


Tempus Mortuorum

by Chicken_Nuggets800



Series: Memento Mori [1]
Category: Banana Bus Squad, youtube - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Comfort, Evan Fong needs a hug, Everyone Needs A Hug, Hurt, Like seriously slow, M/M, Major Character Injury, Minor Injuries, Slow Burn, Temporary Character Death, gta v - Freeform, not even kidding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 08:14:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 37,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20189119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chicken_Nuggets800/pseuds/Chicken_Nuggets800
Summary: The definition of Insanity is doing the same things over, and over, and over again, and expecting things to change.What would happen if the Banana Bus Squad gets stuck in a game where they have to die over and over, with no idea how to escape?The definition of Insanity is doing the same things over, and over, and over again, and expecting things to change.How long will it be before friendships are tested and relationships are destroyed? How many deaths does it take to break one's mind?The definition of Insanity is doing the same things over, and over, and over again, and expecting things to change.How long do you think will they last?





	1. When there's blood in the water

**Author's Note:**

> So basically, I wrote the story that I wanted to read because no one else would. Whosoever readith this, prepare thineself for death galore! While the deaths in the game are not permanent, there may or may not still be an angsty moment or two in this relatively short fic.  
On another note, I've been feeling rather uncertain about my style of writing and whether it feels too rushed or not. So I would really, really appreciate any help or criticism I can get! Also, feel free to shout at me for any grammar or spelling mistakes I've made.  
Anyways, onto the fic!

“Hello?” Evan called out, words hesitant and voice lined with his uncertainty. He carved his eyes around, searching for the person that had left the oddly suspicious package at his doorstep. But no one was around. Maybe it wouldn’t have seemed so weird if the person had actually bothered to stick around and explain, but nope. They had just ding dong ditched a parcel by his door.

He waited for a few moments longer, but no one pitched up. He exhaled slowly and crouched down in front of the box that lay innocently by his feet, studying it with a mixture between curiosity and apprehensiveness. He looked over the labels, wondering if maybe someone had gotten the wrong house. But sure enough, it was addressed to him. Or rather, his YouTube self.

Vanoss.

Maybe… A fan of sorts? But he didn’t share his private information with anyone except his friends. It could’ve been one of his neighbours, he supposed. But why wouldn’t they stick around to tell him about it? There was nothing else on it though. No addresses, no other information, nothing. Nothing except his name and logo.

He tentatively picked it up, frowning at the heaviness of it. He cast one more wary look outside, then brought it in with him, closing the door behind him. Whatever it was, he was getting damn inquisitive about it. Time to rip into it.

-

“Did anyone else get a weird ass package dropped at their door?” Wildcat asked in lieu of a greeting, as polite as ever.

“Hi to you too, Tyler.” Brian responded dryly, drawing out snickers from the others present in the chat. "Would it kill you to say hello for once? You know, like a normal human being.”

“Shut the fuck up and answer the question, dumbass.” Came his snappish reply.

“So, you too, huh?” Brock said.

“Yeah, someone dropped it off this morning and just booked it before I could see who it was.” Evan could almost picture Tyler shrugging in his confusion.

“Well this is fucking weird, but same.” Brian, for once, actually sounded relatively serious.

Evan leaned back in his chair, a frown creasing his eyebrows. Did they all get the same ‘gift’ that he had?

“Is it some sort of gift from YouTube?” Brock mused.

“Nah, doesn’t look like it. Anyway, why would they send us stuff at the exact same time? Like, what’s the reason? It’s not like we’ve done anything big lately.” Tyler countered.

“Evan? You’re being reeeaaal fucking quiet.” Brian noted.

“I’m just thinking. You all got VR kits in your packages too, right?”

“Yeah, actually.” Brock admitted. “Did any of yours have any details or an address on them? Because mine didn’t.”

They all murmured their negatives, all of them wondering what exactly was going on.

“I was talking to Marcel earlier, and apparently he got one too.” Tyler continued soundly. He talked between the sounds of chewing that came through from his side. He was very clearly eating something, and it was unpleasantly loud in his mic. But no one else had brought it up yet, so he wouldn’t either. “But the weirdest thing? Lui did too.”

“Lui?” Evan blurted out, his shock evident. “But his channel hasn’t been active in years.”

“I know, right? But still, it had his YouTube name on it and everything. Lui Calibre.”

“Guys?” Brian interrupted, sounding a bit distracted. “Nogla just sent me a text. He also got a package this morning. Same exact thing as us.”

“The hell?” He murmured, completely baffled by this.

“Hang on, Delirious wants to join the Discord.” Brock spoke up again, his voice conveying his uneasiness a lot more than the others had. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was the only other person besides Evan that was a bit unnerved by this whole thing, or if he just didn’t hide it well. He had always been the most expressive friend emotionally out of them all and Evan knew it. This must’ve been freaking him out quite a bit. Hell, it was freaking him out too. There was a moment of rather tense silence, before Delirious joined up and his voice appeared.

“Hi, guys.”

“Hey, Del.” Evan greeted his friend, trying to sound as upbeat as he could. If this whole thing became a problem-_if_, mind you-he didn’t exactly want to worry the others that weren’t involved. Brian and Brock voiced their hellos while Tyler only made a small, noncommittal sound. Obviously not paying full attention to the conversation.

“So, this is kinda random, but, uhh…” He trailed off, seeming almost… Confused? “Did any of you get some kind of mail today? Like, a VR set kinda thingy?”

“You too? What the fuck?” Tyler burst out, now suddenly fully invested again.

“So you did?” Delirious perked up at the response. “Me and Cartoonz and Ohm were talking earlier, and-and we all got this same package and we don’t know who it’s from.”

“Yeah, us too.” Evan put in, folding his arms over his chest. “Us four, plus Marcel, Lui and Nogla.”

“For real?”

Brian scoffed. “Oh no no no, we’re only joking about this. This is aaaall just some elaborate prank we’re playing on you, and-_Yes for real!_”

“Jeez, okay, okay.” Delirious huffed at his sarcastic response.

“Guys, I’ve been searching for the company that made these things for like… Half an hour, and I still can’t find a thing about them. It’s like it doesn’t exist.” Brock said.

“Wait, really?” Evan hadn’t thought to even do that, but if Brock was right, then that was weird. This whole damn thing was weird, honestly. “Nothing?”

“Nope.”

“Whatever, pussies. Let’s try them out!”

Silence followed the nonchalant-if not downright cheerful-response from Tyler.

“You sure that’s a good idea?” Moo asked hesitantly. “I mean, we have no clue where these things came from.”

“Oh come on. Don’t be such a bitch boy, Brock. Let’s ask the others if they’re busy and try them out together.”

“Tyler’s right.” Brian agreed after a distant sounding laugh, like he was currently some distance away from his mic. “These things are obviously gifts meant for us, and we shouldn’t let them go to waste!”

“I don’t have anything to do today, so sure.” Jonathon agreed.

“There we go!” Tyler was clearly smug with both Delirious and Terroriser backing him up. “So whatcha say, Evan?”

Evan didn’t say anything for a while, just thinking it over. It seemed like Moo was the only other one that was a bit uncertain about this. He looked over his shoulder and at the package in question. It just sat there innocently; the contents visible even from where he sat.

Despite his tentativeness about it, it had just turned out to be a plain old Virtual Reality set. Although a really expensive, high tech looking one, if he was any judge of it. He’d never really been a VR kind of guy, always more into PC games, but… This did look really cool. And even though the situation surrounding it was a little odd, this was still a good opportunity to try something new. And probably get some new content in the process.

“Yeah, okay. Let’s do it.”

-

“This is fucking dope, man!”

Evan had to agree with Tyler on that one. It was already going onto his second hour in the game, and he was still loving it. They’d found that the VR had come with an altered version of Grand Theft Auto, which, had he not been so distracted by the fantastic graphics, he probably would’ve been confused by. After all, Grand Theft Auto had never released a VR version of the game, and had never planned to either. At least to his knowledge it hadn’t. But again, that wasn’t exactly something that he was thinking about right now.

Not with half a dozen police cars right on his tail. It was honestly quite surreal to be inside of the game that he had only ever played on his computer. To see things right in front of you instead of on a screen, as if it was real life. And especially to get shot at without being in any real danger.

He glanced to the side, grinning from beneath his mask at the sight of Tyler leaning dangerously out of the window and shooting back at the pursuing vehicles. Just like his GTA character, he wore his ‘iconic’ pig mask and helmet, along with his fucking retarded zebra striped pants and fur lined coat. He looked like even more of a dumbass up close like this, but he didn’t actually care enough to comment on it.

“Hang on.” He warned them automatically, swerving dangerously around a corner. A fire hydrant smashed into them and came bursting from beneath the stolen car with a metallic, crunching shriek and a spray of water. But the car didn’t even shudder at the impact.

“I got one!” Delirious cheered from the backseat, taking a break from shooting to look at Vanoss in the rear-view mirror. Despite his expression being hidden behind his Jason mask, he knew for sure that he was smiling. “Hell yeah!”

“Nice, Delirious!” Tyler shouted, switching weapons from what should be a precarious position, seeing as he was half hanging outside. But instead he just looked unnaturally steady as the car veered and jerked around. It was the small things like that that reminded Evan that they _were_ actually in a game.

“Guys, roadblock ahead!” He called to the other two in the bashed up car, eyes trained on the multiple police cars that blockaded the road ahead of them. Helicopters circled high above in the sky. With so many cars obstructive the only road out of this mess, Evan didn’t know what to do. Well, he did, but it was a dumb fucking idea. But dumb enough that it might actually work- “Oh shit!”

A rocket came soaring towards them from a particularly well armoured enemy, causing Evan to yank on the steering wheel as hard as he could, the car screeching its protest at the sharp turn.

Then the car exploded.

Evan respawned somewhere not too far away, laughing his ass off. He could hear Tyler and Jonathon doing the same, so they must’ve been relatively nearby as well. On the side of his vision held their usernames for a few moments, before fading away again. A clear sign that all three had died in the blast. The stars that had hovered above his eyes had also vanished, which was to be expected, really. His wanted level gone again.

“Holy shit, that was fun.” He looked around, noticing Jon making his way over to him.

This time the other two people on the server were with him. “You guys died again?” Lui asked, his amusement clear in his voice, even if his mask hid his expression.

The masks were actually real fucking cool close up. His own looked like normal, but more… Well, real. It was awesome. And it turns out you can take them off with your hands.

“It’s not our fault! There were too many cops.” He justified their deaths jokingly. Brian chuckled and shook his head, single cyborg eye glowing bright red even in the daylight.

“Yeah, yeah.” He rolled his eyes. “Brock’s finally got time to join us now. And I think Nogla and Marcel are gonna too.” He told them.

“Oh, nice.” Evan said.

“Hi, guys.”

“Speak of the fucking devils!” Brian exclaimed.

“Hey Nogla.” Lui greeted the Irish man, seeing him and two others pop into existence.

“Woah.” Brock breathed, looking around slowly. His eyes were wide behind his tinted sunglasses. “This is… Pretty sweet, honestly.”

Marcel pushed past them, not bothering to greet the others in his excitement. “Fuck yeah it is! Now let’s go shoot some shit.”

-

Vanoss pulled himself onto the roof of a car that was most definitely not his, looking around at his friends. Pretty much everyone was there with him, the exceptions being Brian, Marcel and Jon. The former two were on a mission to stop the drug train, while Jon was somewhere else entirely. He was pretty sure none of the others even knew where he had gotten to. He certainly didn’t.

“Look at these fucking idiots.” Wildcat wheezed, making coughing and hilariously unnatural sounds as he cackled. The others chuckled their amusement, watching as he sprayed an endless supply of water at the pedestrians passing by from the fire truck he had stolen. “Holy crap, do you see that one? She’s breakdancing!”

Evan looked at the chaos that his friend was in the midst of causing, a laugh escaping his lips. One woman in particular was spazzing out completely, glitching and jerking around through the air and the pavement.

“Hey look! It’s Hoodini!” Lui suddenly shouted, sounding like a kid with that Squeaker voice of his. Evan looked towards him, noticing that he was pointing at him where he stood elevated above the others.

He grinned beneath his mask, going with it immediately. “Who wants to see a magic trick, kids?” He asked, putting his hands on his hips dramatically.

“Oh my gosh, not this again.” Nogla sighed, but it was obvious to him that he was joking.

“Ah, ah! ‘_Hoo _wants to see a magic trick’! I get it.” Brock laughed at the unintended pun in Evan’s words. A mixture of laughter and groans-as well as one or two choice swear words-followed the joke.

“Eeeeeexactly!” He agreed, puffing his chest up a bit when more people started to focus on him. “Hoo. And I’m going to show you the best trick you’ve ever seen!” He claimed, thinking of something funny he could do.

“Wow look at that sweetie. It’s a wild retard.” Tyler put on a fake voice as well, sounding like awed parent talking to their child. He noticed the pig mask wearing weirdo that he called his friend finally climb out of the truck and start picking his way towards him, gun in hand. Almost like he was expecting trouble. And knowing him, he probably was. The faint sounds of police sirens filled the air; he’d probably gotten a wanted star from accidentally killing an NPC or two with the water. But he didn’t seem to care about it much.

“Shut up!” He silenced the other’s snickers with those two words. Nogla, Lui and Brock had gathered around the car expectantly by now, looking up at him, while Tyler made his way over to them. “Now, as you all can see, I’m standing right here. But! In a moment, I’m going to make myself disappear entirely!”

Lui gasped. “Woah!”

“Are you guys ready?” Evan asked, looking around slowly.

“Yeah.” Nogla said half-heartedly.

He paused, taking his time for dramatic effect. Or really just to irritate the others, if he was being entirely honest. “Are you sure?”

“We’re ready!” Lui cheered.

“…but are you su-”

“Yes! Just hurry up and do it already!” Wildcat snapped, impatient. After being Evan’s friend for so long, it was no wonder he knew exactly what he was trying to do. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t funny.

“Okay, okay. I’m going to disappear in three…” He started the count down, scrolling through his inventory, unbeknownst to the others, as he did. “…two…” The others waited patiently-pfft, as if-for him to continue. “…one and a half…”

“Fuck this.” Tyler groaned, obviously about to leave at this point.

“One!” His pistol appeared in his hand and he brought it to his temple, before pulling the trigger.

The sound of a gunshot blasted through the air.

An explosion of pain burst through his head and his vision went dark. And the next thing he knew, he was falling. He couldn’t see, but it didn’t stop him from panicking. Something bitterly cold enveloped him, submerging him and cutting off his breath. Almost like he was falling through water. Icy and stifling.

But he could feel nothing around him except that insidious cold that seeped into his bones. His head burned like fire in comparison, pain spreading throughout his body until he wanted to scream his throat raw. Cry. Rip the very veins out from his body with his fingers. _Anything_ to stop the fiery agony that encased him. He opened his mouth in a silent scream, the only thing he could do at this point.

He was falling.

His eyes snapped open with a desperate gasp, legs almost collapsing from beneath him at the sudden feeling of having ground beneath his feet again. He grabbed onto the first thing that came into view-a railing beside him, and let his body sag against it in an effort to take some weight off of his unsteady feet. The world around him blurred and spun in flashes of far too bright colours. There were people laughing somewhere nearby, but that too sounded hazy to his ears.

He gulped in a breath, nearly choking in his frantic rush for oxygen. He felt like everything was closing in on him. The mask that he'd never been bothered by before felt suffocating on his face. Tears stung in his eyes and he grasped a hand at his pounding head. His fingers closed around his mask and he ripped it off, dropping it to his feet without a second thought.

He sucked in air, raising his eyes slowly.

He was still in the city. Cars drove by more recklessly than they would in real life. NPC’s wandered around aimlessly. He could see his friends-except for Tyler-messing around in the distance. They looked like they were still chuckling about his joke. They looked like they had no idea what just happened.

What _had_ just happened?

Brock noticed him and made his way over, leaving the group to continue their jokes. “Wow, great magic trick, Hoodini!” He complimented him lightly, a grin on his face and his eyes amused behind his tinted sunglasses.

“What…?” He breathed, feeling rather shell shocked from what had happened.

He probably wouldn’t have even thought it had happened, if not for the ache in the side of his head and the fact that he couldn’t stop trembling.

He came to a stop in front of him, smile dimming slightly. “You okay, Evan? You look a bit sick.” His eyes moved from his face, down to the mask he had discarded on the ground, then back again. His eyebrows creased into a slight frown, his good mood vanishing in an instant. He looked more concerned than anything else by now. “What happened?”

Evan licked his lips, his mouth dry. “I… I don’t know.” He admitted, voice barely above a whisper. “I… I think I died.”

“Well… Yeah. You just killed yourself.” Brock pointed out, but still sounded uneasy at the notion.

“No, I mean…” He trailed off, uncertain himself at this point. He slowly forced his fingers to let go of the death grip they had on the railing, hand shaking in the process. But even if his legs were still weak, he could feel himself gaining some semblance of control over his limbs again. “It hurt. Like it was real. I felt myself die.” He swallowed thickly, eyes drifting around to the others. Lui and Nogla were talking, while Tyler was nowhere to be seen. But he gathered he was taking care of the cops, judging by the sounds of explosions and gunfire in the distance.

“Lui, no!” Nogla’s loud laugh caught their attention and they both looked back, only to see Lui chasing after the Irishman now, a knife in his hand.

Evan panicked and took a step towards them, but nearly crumpled when his legs refused to work. Hands grasped onto his arms and held him up. His gaze landed on Brock’s worried face looming above him.

Wait. He could feel Brock. He could _feel_ him, like he was literally standing besides him and holding onto him in real life. It was so unnatural-so impossible-that it made his thoughts collide and come to a grinding halt in his stunned mind. And by the way that Brock went still, he must have realised it too. But he forced himself to look away and focus on his two other friends instead of chasing that particular train of thought, a grim sense of foreboding settling deep inside him.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, man!” Daithi apologized between his laughter, still running from the smaller man.

“Apology not accepted!” Lui’s Squeaker voice shouted back jokingly.

“Lui, wait!” Vanoss called out, voice sounding weirdly hoarse, even to his own ears. But he could only watch with wide eyes and a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach as his shout went unheard.

Lui lunged forward as soon as he was close enough, slashing the knife at his back. The blade came back soaked in red. Nogla gasped and stumbled over his own feet, a terrifying mixture between shock and pain flashing over his face. He turned around to face the advancing man, and he could hear Brock inhale sharply at the sight of blood soaking through the back of his shirt. There was a visible gash in his shirt that hadn’t been there before.

“L-Lui, wait-” He tried, voice strained and stilted.

Lui didn’t notice the scared look on Nogla’s face, nor the way his whole body stood rigid with what could only be from pain, and only stabbed at him again and again with a high-pitched laugh.

“Lui!” Brock gasped, horrified at how violent it all was, as Nogla lurched backwards and collapsed to the ground. He writhed on the floor, blood gushing from the multiple wounds that should have been nothing but harmless fun, but was instead actually killing their friend. Guttural and wet sounds that Evan wasn’t ashamed to admit almost made him nauseous spilt from his lips, fingers clawing at the ground in his desperation.

“Nogla?” Lui asked, talking normally once again, and clearly sounding uncertain by his reaction. He didn’t get a response from him. “David?” He tried again. He looked between him and Brock and Evan, hand clutching tightly onto the bloodied knife. He couldn’t see his face, but he was sure that his expression matched their own. “Guys, what’s happening?”

Evan didn’t say anything-_couldn’t_ say anything. He could only watch, stunned, as his friend lay dying. Nogla sucked in one more breath, then stopped moving entirely, eyes left open wide and staring up at the sky unseeingly.

The words, ‘_LuiCalibre killed DAITHIDENOGLA._’ flickered to life in the corner of his vision after a few moments, before Daithi’s body shimmered and faded out of existence entirely before his very eyes.

Evan felt the fingers around his arm slacken slightly and looked up at Brock. His friend looked like he had seen a ghost, his face ashen in a way that shouldn’t be possible in a video game. “Evan, tell me you were joking.” He almost pleaded, desperate to know that Daithi hadn’t _actually_ felt the pain of being stabbed to death.

“Joking about what?” Lui interjected, the knife in his hand disappearing as he put it back in his inventory. “Someone tell me what’s going on.”

“I don’t know.” Evan said, pulling away from Brock when he decided he was fine to stand on his own again. “I don’t know what’s happening. I just know that when I shot myself…” He trailed off, a shudder running through him. “_Something_ happened. It hurt.”

“Hurt? This is a game, Evan. Even if everything seems scary real, even the deaths, this is still just a game. When Nogla comes back, he’ll tell you the same thing.” Lui folded his arms over his chest, skeptical of his claim, even if his voice did falter slightly with his uneasiness. “I think maybe we’ve just been in here for too long and we need a break.”

Evan’s resolve wavered and he dropped his gaze. Maybe he was right. A frown creased at his eyebrows, confusion clouding his mind. Had he just… hallucinated the whole thing? He felt eyes on him and looked up to see Moo watching him, worry clear on his face.

He averted his eyes again, feeling vaguely uncomfortable when he remembered that he had taken his mask off, leaving his face-and his emotions-exposed.

“Yeah, maybe.” He agreed half-heartedly, shrugging his shoulders. “I’ll… Chat with you guys later.” He moved his hands up to take his headset off, only for his fingers to close in on his own hair. He paused, a tremor running through his hands. No. No, no, no. His heart skipped a beat. “Guys? I can’t take my headset off.”

The two of them automatically reached up to try and take their own off. But judging by the way neither of them disappeared from the game after a few moments of clasping at their heads, he assumed they couldn’t either.

“What the f-”

“Outta the way, assholes!” Tyler’s voice shouted over the sound of his blood rushing through his ears.

Evan’s head snapped up, eyes going wide at the sight of his friend barreling towards the group in a half-destroyed car. “Shit, move!” He threw himself out of the way. Just in time it seemed, seeing as Tyler came flying past him as soon as he was in the clear. A blast of wind washed over him, the car missing him by a bare inch. He scrambled to his feet again, seeing Brock doing the same next to him. Lui must’ve jumped the other way.

Christ, that was close. He could still feel his heart thundering away from beneath his ribcage.

“Evan!” Brock gasped, terrified eyes trained on something behind him.

Vanoss didn’t even have time to turn around before the police car came slamming into him at full speed. He was aware of an agonizing pain that crackled through his body and the fact that he was thrown forward. But then he was smashing into the ground again, his head snapping back on impact with a loud _crack._

And he was falling through darkness again.

It was quicker now. Just as terrifying and gut wrenching as it had been the first time around, but it was still over much sooner. Before he knew it, he was back in the game again and fighting the urge to empty out the contents of his stomach all over the ground. He almost fell but managed to keep some control over his limbs. His neck throbbed painfully and he tentatively reached a hand up to feel it. Just as he thought, no physical injury marred his skin.

Was that what breaking your neck felt like?

If so, it was horrible.

He grimaced and looked around, noticing that he had respawned just down the street. A trail of carnage was left in Tyler’s wake, including some destroyed cars and knocked over NPC’s.

And Brock.

He exhaled sharply and quickly ran over towards his fallen friend, ignoring the way his legs felt like jelly and his head pounded with a skull cracking headache. Lui was already kneeling next to him, his mask in his hand and a stunned look on his face. Evan crouched down next to them, running his eyes over Moo.

He lay on his back, blood dribbling out of the corner of his mouth and his chest heaving erratically in his effort to get oxygen into his lungs. His sunglasses were nowhere to be seen and the exposed parts of his body were littered with scrapes and lacerations, some of which were bleeding profusely. One of his mangled legs twisted unnaturally and something that looked suspiciously like a broken piece of bone stuck out of his arm.

“Oh god.” He breathed, horrified by the gruesome wounds. If he hadn’t felt like throwing up already, he definitely would have by now.

Brock’s eyes met his own, a sheen of tears shining in them, and his face distorted in his agony. He moved his mouth, but no sound came out besides a barely audible wheeze. A wet, rattling sound came from his chest with every breath he took. He didn’t know much about injuries, but he was sure a lung had been punctured.

Evan took his uninjured hand in his own, trying not to squeeze it too much and hurt him more in his panic. Bloodied fingers clutched onto his own like a lifeline. He hoped that he was taking at least some comfort from the silent gesture. It was the only thing he could really do for him, and he hated it. He hated that he couldn’t help his friend while he suffered.

“What do we do?” Lui finally spoke up, not moving his gaze away from Brock.

“I don’t…” His voice caught in his throat. _I dont know_. He felt like he was saying that a lot lately. But what else could he say? He could feel tears pricking at his own eyes and blinked rapidly, forcing them back. “I don’t know. I’m so sorry, Brock.” He wiped at his eyes with his free hand, trying to keep himself composed. He looked down at him, heart clenching at the all too visible sight of tear tracks along his scratched cheeks and the pained look in his eyes.

Lui’s lips curled as he cringed, before he pulled his mask back on over his head, once again hiding his expression from them. “I know what to do.” A pistol weaved into existence in his hand.

Evan winced, understanding what he was meaning to do almost immediately. He could feel Brock’s grip on him tighten until his hand started to hurt from the pressure, a whimper escaping his lips. He averted his eyes back to Moo, giving him what he hoped would be a reassuring smile, but just felt way too forced to be anything but a grimace. “It’s all right, Brock. You’re gonna be okay.” He promised, voice cracking slightly. “Just… Don’t look, yeah? It’ll all be over soon.”

Brock managed to incline his head fractionally despite how much he had to struggle to do so, whining in pain as he did. But he still held Evan’s gaze, even if he could see the terror on his face. Lui lifted his arm up. And though he tried to hide it, his hand shook visibly.

The gun went off with a bang.

Brock jerked once. His eyes glazed over. Then he fell still. A new wound decorated his body now: a coin sized bullet hole in his head.

Evan sat back on his heels, still holding onto his now limp hand.

_‘LuiCalibre killed Moo_Snuckel.’_

They remained there, silent and solemn, until his body disappeared.

“Evan?” He jolted at the sound of his name and stood up, turning to see Tyler staggering towards them.

His stomach dropped at the sight of his friend, hands clutching at his chest and blood pouring from between his fingers and down his bare torso. “Shit.” He whispered, breaking into a sprint to get to him.

_Not him too._

Tyler sank to his knees, eyes glassy and limbs trembling so much that even at this distance he could see it. He forced himself to run faster, heart in his throat. “Evan,” He started, voice barely audible as he stared at him. “Evan, w-what-” He pitched forward mid-sentence, landing unceremoniously face first on the ground.

“Tyler!” He cried out, finally making it to him and falling to his knees besides his friend. But seeing the gaping hole in the back of his head, he knew he was too late. He could only sit there and watch his body twitch violently, then eventually go still.

_‘I_AM_WILDCAT died.’_

He was vaguely aware of the fact that the policemen responsible for this were climbing back into their cars and driving away by the time his body had disappeared, but he found he couldn’t care.

He didn’t know when exactly he had gotten back, but when he looked up, Nogla was standing over him.

“What’s happening?” He looked up at Nogla, his face pale and an unusually serious look on his face. Lui approached them cautiously, looking from between the Canadian and Irishman in turns. He wasn’t sure how he would react to his killer, after all. But Daithi didn’t seem to care. “Why did-Why did I feel it when Lui stabbed me?” He asked, voice shaky and brittle; like glass about to break at any moment.

“You think I know?” Evan laughed humourlessly. “All I know is that we can feel pain suddenly. And better yet, I don’t think we can even get out of this stupid fucking game.”

“It’s okay, Evan, just breathe.” He immediately climbed to his feet at the sound of Brock’s voice, gentle and reassuring. Relief trickled over his face at the sight of their mild-mannered friend, alive and well again. Or, as well as to be expected, really. He gave him a small smile. One that looked way too strained to be fully real, but the gesture was appreciated, nonetheless. “We’ll figure this out, guys. There has to be a logical answer to all of this.” He sounded calm, but Evan knew better than that. He looked incredibly shaken up, and his hand kept drifting to his chest like he was grasping onto a wound that no one else could see.

_‘BasicallyIDoWrk died.’ _Appeared before his eyes and he automatically winced. Another one down.

“Shit, man.” Tyler groaned as he walked up to them, mask in hand, and looking probably the best out of everyone, despite having just died. “What the fuck was that all about?” He exclaimed, eyebrows rising. It was honestly a bit… disconcerting how chilled out he looked. But weirdly comforting at the same time.

He jumped at a vibration that started up from his pocket, giving him more of a fright than he would have liked to admit. He ignored the eyes on him and pulled out his phone, looking to see who was calling him. “It’s Brian.” He told the others, accepting the call and bringing it up to his ear, then thought better of it barely a moment later, and instead put it on speaker phone so that the others could hear as well. “Hello?”

“What the hell is happening?” The Irishman demanded.

“What are you talking about?” Evan’s mouth moved before his brain had time to catch up, then cringed when the realization hit him. He must’ve been talking about this whole death thing. What else could he be calling about? But… He hadn’t even died yet, why was he so pissed? He would’ve gotten the notification if he _had_ died. So why? The only other person to have died was-

Oh.

Marcel.

“I’m talking about how Marcel is in the middle of having a panic attack from being hit by a train!”

The train? Damn. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on either, man. I just know that if you die in the game, it feels real.”

“We can’t get out of the game either.” Brock added in, folding his arms over his chest uneasily.

“Wait, we can’t?” Nogla interjected, shock flitting over his expression. Lui only shook his head solemnly in answer to him, having already tried earlier.

“Shit.” Brian breathed, cooling down a bit at their admittance. “What are we gonna do?”

Evan had half expected him to be skeptical of this whole thing. But, he supposed that seeing your friend have a panic attack after dying was a good way of convincing someone. He brought his eyes up, noticing that everyone was waiting for him to answer. It was clear his friends were all counting on him to step up and take charge. And as much as he wanted to shy away from that responsibility, he knew that he couldn’t. _Wouldn’t. _He schooled his expression and looked down at his phone again.

“We should meet up first.” He finally spoke up, trying his best to make sure he came off as confident in his answer. “If we get everyone together, we can try to figure this whole thing out. Besides, there’s safety in numbers.”

“I’m pretty sure there’s also death in numbers.” Lui deadpanned.

“Shut up and listen to Vanoss.” Tyler nudged the shorter man with an elbow and gave him a disapproving frown.

Evan didn’t miss the way he used his YouTuber name and not his own, but he didn’t comment on it anyway. Even when disappointment settled in him.

He could hear Brian exhale. “Okay. Okay, okay. I’ll get Marcel and come to you guys. Just… Stay there.” He sounded shaky in a way that Evan couldn’t ever remember hearing him be.

“Will do.” He said. Brian ended the call and silence was left in the aftermath.

“So what now?” Brock finally asked, uncertainty lining his voice, even if he tried to put on a brave face.

“Now… We wait, I guess."


	2. May we stay lost on our way home

They sat on the steps of a nearby office building as they waited for the other two to arrive. Barely anyone spoke, except for the one or two comments from one of them whenever they tried to lighten the mood a bit.

It never worked.

Evan had tried to phone Jon, but he’d never picked up. And that just made him all the more worried. Because while he hadn’t died yet, judging by the lack of his name appearing across his vision, he could’ve been injured nonetheless. But unlike the others, he was alone, and none of them could help him through it.

He hoped that wasn’t the case.

He dragged his eyes over the others slowly, taking note of their appearances absently. It was… Surreal, honestly. Because while everyone had similarities to their avatars, they all mostly looked like they did in real life. Every time Tyler glanced at him, he could see the face of his best friend staring back at him. Brock was an odd mixture between his avatar and himself. He had his own face, but his hair was styled in his typical mohawk and his eyes were still hidden behind his glasses. And he was sure that if Lui took off his mask, he would look like he did in real life too. Nogla looked almost nothing like his character though, except for the clothing he wore. He wondered if he too looked like himself but hadn’t bothered to check.

It was a bizarre sight, really. Being face to face with his friends but at the same time… Not really. At this point though, this whole thing felt more like it was real life, rather than a game. And it honestly terrified him.

A shadow fell over him and he glanced to the side, noticing Brock standing beside him instead of sitting like he had been for the past ten minutes. He followed his gaze, expression relaxing slightly when he saw a familiar car pulling up next to the road. Brian’s most recent in-game car.

He pushed himself to his feet again, walking with Brock towards Marcel and Brian as they got out of the car. The former was unusually pale. And worse still, Evan could see that _look_ in his eyes. The one that he saw in Brock’s. In Nogla’s. Even in Tyler’s, despite him being able to hide it so much better than any of the others. And he was sure he would be able see it again if he just looked in a mirror. If that was the case, he was glad he hadn’t had the chance to do so yet.

“You guys okay?” Evan asked, raking his eyes over his friends in search for any injuries they might’ve gotten on their way here.

“Define ‘okay’, Evan.” Marcel snapped, a scowl darkening his face.

He didn’t take offense to his moody response; how could he? He knew just how… Well, shaking it was to actually die. But what he couldn’t imagine was what it would be like to be killed by a _train_ of all things. He was sure it must’ve been like getting hit by a car, only a hundred times worse.

“We’re fine.” Brian said. Barely a second later he shared a look with him that clearly said, ‘As well as we can be.’

“Have either of you been able to contact Jon?” He asked. Barely a second later he noticed Brock giving him an odd look and immediately corrected himself, trying not to let the embarrassment that pricked at him show. “Delirious. Have you guys seen Delirious?” He wasn’t sure why he had called him by his name instead of his alias. It was what everyone called him, after all.

“Nah. So no one’s heard from him then?” Terroriser asked, blatantly ignoring his mistake. He was sure that he was also questioning the use of his name-or worse, nickname-but was glad that he disregarded it. He just hoped he wouldn’t bring it up later.

“No, we can’t get ahold of him.” Brock answered, shaking his head. When he had respawned, he was wearing his sunglasses again. It made him wonder if that was the same case with masks. But when he had died the second time, he hadn’t come back with his mask on. Maybe it was because he had taken it off first? He had no idea, really. And it kinda hurt his head to think about it too much, so he opted to just let it go instead.

Brian spoke up again. “So, who so far has…” He hesitated, casting a nervous glance at Marcel, then continued. “Y’know… Died.”

“Me, Tyler, Brock and Nogla.” Evan answered grimly. “You, Lui and Del are the only ones who haven’t.”

_‘Ohmwrecker has joined the game.’_

_‘_CaRtOoNz has joined the game.’_

Evan stilled, dumbstruck, at the words that flashed before his eyes.

“Oh no.” He heard Brian murmur, sharing a worried look with Evan, his worry visible. At any other time, Evan probably would’ve found it quite funny to see the cyborg version of his friend looking so damn horrified. But this wasn’t another time, and he could already feel his stomach sink unpleasantly.

Evan pulled out his phone, immediately scrolling through his contacts for Ohm. He turned his back on the others, starting to pace anxiously as he held the phone to his ear. “C’mon, pick up…” He murmured, his knuckles turning white from the grip he had on the device. He was honestly a bit surprised that it hadn’t yet splintered into pieces in his hand from the pressure. After far too long, Ohmwrecker finally picked up and he was able to let out the breath that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

“Vanoss?” Ryan’s voice appeared suddenly, a confused note in it. But unlike those with him, he still sounded like he was having fun. “What’s up, man?”

“Ohm, get out of here.” He blurted out, reaching his free hand up to rake his fingers roughly through his hair in his stress. Having more friends in this deadly game was just a recipe for disaster.

“W-What?” He was clearly quite surprised by his almost frantic words.

“You and Luke, you have to try and leave the game, okay? Fuck, it might already be too late-”

“Evan, what are you talking about?”

“Ryan, you have to listen to me-”

“I can’t hear you very well.” The masked gamer interrupted him. And now that he mentioned it, he _could_ hear the vague sounds of gunshots and explosions in the distance. “Look, Toonzy is busy getting us a car. We’ll meet up with you guys and chat then, okay?”

“No, wait-”

“Shoot, the cops are here. Gotta go. Bye, Ev.”

“Ryan!” He protested.

The phone beeped in his ear as the call ended. He slowly dropped his hand, a low groan of exasperation leaving his lips. How the hell did they manage to get caught up in something dangerous within the first minutes of being in the game? And better yet, _why did they join in the first place_?

Okay, so he _did_ know the answer to both of those questions, but still.

“So that didn’t sound very successful.” Brock said.

Evan shook his head miserably, turning around to look at them again. “They’re gonna meet us here, but…” But they were probably stuck in the game too now. He really, _really_ hoped that wasn’t the case, but… It likely was.

Brock gave him a sympathetic pat on the back and an almost sad smile. “Let’s sit down while we wait, yeah?”

“Guys, what’s that?” Brian asked, catching everyone’s attention. Evan looked back at the Irishman, then followed his eyes in the direction he was pointing in. He squinted at the sky, raising a hand up to shield his eyes even slightly from the glare of the sun. Well he was right about there being something. And that something looked suspiciously like a plane coming towards the ground.

“Uhm… It’s getting kinda close, don’t you think? Maybe we should… Move?” Brock suggested, sounding extremely unsure of himself.

Evan found himself nodding his agreement, following the aircraft's path as it descended in an unusually fast pace. “Guys?” He called, tearing his eyes away from it to instead look at the friends that were still sitting on the steps. They were talking amongst themselves quietly, not paying attention to them at all. “Guys?” He raised his voice, trying to get their attention. He glanced back up, only for his heart to jump into his throat at the sight of the plane rocketing towards them. “Guys!”

Tyler lifted his head, giving him a confused look. But noticing the panic on his face, he immediately got up. “What-"

“Run!” He shouted, voice high with his desperation and alarm as he threw his arm up to point at the oncoming vehicle.

Tyler’s face slackened at sight, the blood draining from his face. A squealing sound filled the air, like an arrow cutting through the air, only a thousand times louder.

“Tyler, get out of there!”

He felt hands on his arms, and suddenly he was being yanked backwards. He stumbled and almost fell on his ass as he was dragged away, but the hands kept him up. He automatically fought against the grips that kept him from running to his friends’ aid. He watched, still screaming his warning, as Tyler grabbed the backs of Lui’s hoodie and Nogla’s collar, and yanked them to their feet roughly, trying to get away before the vehicle hit.

He twisted, forcing himself around, just to see Brian and Brock hauling him away. Both of their faces were grim as he pleaded on deaf ears for them to let him go.

With a shriek of tearing metal and a deafening explosion, the plane crashed into the steps. He was thrown forward and the hands were ripped from his limbs from the blast. For a moment he had a horrible sense of Déjà vu: being thrown through the air and into the ground by an invisible force. Only this time when he landed, his neck didn’t snap. Small mercies, he supposed.

He still hit the floor hard enough for the air to be snatched from his lungs, leaving him winded and sore. In a weird, detached moment of clarity as he lay there, still and on the concrete, he thought about how, despite landing hands first, they didn’t hurt much. He knew that without the fingerless gloves he wore, his hands would definitely be scraped open at this point. Hell, his face felt like it went through a meat grinder, and it hadn’t even gotten the brunt of the impact. But they had pretty much gone unscathed.

He opened his mouth, trying to draw in a breath, but found he couldn’t. He could vaguely hear a wheezing, strained sound coming from somewhere nearby-or was it from himself? He couldn’t really tell.

He sluggishly pushed himself up slightly, an ache to his body that felt weirdly similar to the last time he had died. But, thankfully, not as concentrated on his neck. He could taste the coppery taste of blood in his mouth… Had he bitten his tongue when he hit the ground? He wasn’t sure.

He forced his head up, limbs feeling strangely heavy, like they were lined with lead. He could see Brian helping Brock up, his concern written on his face. Moo meanwhile looked just as stunned as Evan felt-which wasn’t all that surprising to him. Their lips were moving, but he couldn’t hear them, despite them being barely two metre away. Probably because of that unpleasant ringing in his ears

He gasped a few times, trying his best to get enough air in. Only when he did, did he notice the four names on his screen, one right after the other.

_‘H20_Delirious killed I_AM_WILDCAT.’_

_‘H20_Delirious killed DAITHIDENOGLA.’_

_‘H20_Delirious killed LuiCalibre.’_

_‘H20_Delirious died.’_

Jon? How had he…?

Oh. Evan knew what must’ve happened. Delirious must have been flying the plane.

Brock and Brian had kept him from running right to his death.

He stayed there for a while on his knees, slowly becoming aware of the quiet sound of crackling flames behind him and the occasional clang of metal as the plane fell apart even further. He didn’t look though. He wasn’t sure if he could stomach to see the disaster that had killed four of his friends.

He really had never thought about how… How huge a plane crash could be. Or how fucking terrifying being near one was.

He flinched when he felt someone shake his shoulder gently, pulling him out of his stupor. He dragged his gaze up to meet Brian’s pale face. He had a nasty scratch on his cheek and dust in his hair, but his expression looked just as determined as it had before. It was weirdly reassuring. He got to his feet, hand automatically reaching up to press against his comfortingly. He could see his mouth moving, but his words were _just_ too soft for him to be able to understand what he was saying.

He frowned as he rubbed his ear and shook his head, a silent gesture that he wasn’t hearing properly just yet. And by the nod Brian gave him, he seemed to get what he meant by it. He mouthed a few more words slowly, and Evan just barely managed to catch them. ‘You okay?’

Not quite trusting himself to be able to speak normally, he just nodded in response. He was sure he didn’t look it, but he was. Or maybe it was just that he was in shock and couldn’t tell just yet. Either way, he could manage.

He finally steeled himself and turned to see the wreckage that lay behind him. He couldn’t help but wince at the sight. Debris and huge pieces of metal scattered around the area, the remains of the aircraft barely identifiable in the state it was in. The only thing he could really make out was a torn off wing that had been thrown during the crash. Some parts were still burning, dark smoke curling around the wreck and disappearing whenever the wind caught hold of it.

But one thing in particular that he noticed was that the area of impact was huge.

It was a wonder that they had managed to get out of the blast zone at all. He really had to thank Brock and Brian for that at some point.

“Tyler’s respawned.” Brock pointed out as he walked towards them, voice sounding small in his ears. He wasn’t too sure if it was because of his partial deafness, or if it was just Brock. He turned, seeing Tyler approaching them with a hand pressed to his face.

“Shit, dude.” He groaned, dropping his arm again as he came to a stop beside them. “Getting hit by a plane fucking sucks.”

“You all right, man?” Brian asked, clapping his hand on Wildcat’s shoulder. A gesture that Evan could tell was meant to be comforting but didn’t quite come off as it. He knew it was probably the best he could think of to do in the situation though.

“I just got flattened by a plane. Do I look all right to you?” Tyler deadpanned, swiping Brian’s hand away.

“Jesus, I’m just trying to be nice, Tyler.” Brian retreated, clearly getting defensive at his sharp retort.

"Oh, nice? Aw jeez, I would never have guessed-"

“Hey, you don’t have to be so bitchy-”

“Bitchy? I just _died_ again. How many times have you died, huh?”

He opened his mouth, about to step in before it got out of hand, when he felt a nudge at his side. He looked at Brock curiously. “I think you should go talk to him.” He said quietly, moving his eyes down the street pointedly.

Talk to who?

He got his answer when he followed his gaze, heart stopping momentarily at the sight of someone sitting on the curb not too far away and wearing an all too familiar blue hoodie. He swallowed thickly, unable to tear his eyes away from the figure of his friend. He wasn’t moving. He didn’t look hurt, but he wasn’t moving either. He couldn’t help the feeling of worry gnawing at him at the sight. But he could still hear Tyler and Brian arguing, making him hesitant to leave right now. Despite wanting to leave and check up on Del. “What about them though?”

“I’ll handle them, Evan. Don’t worry. Besides, it’s not like this is the first time they’ve fought.” He reassured him, prompting him forward with a light push. He took his advice and started walking.

“Guys, play nice. Fighting isn’t gonna help us.” He heard Brock interrupt them as he left, their voices slowly fading away the further he got.

Delirious sat curled in on himself, knees pressed to his chest and arms wrapped around his legs. His face was bowed, hidden from his view. And Evan could see his Jason mask lying on the ground next to him, abandoned and seemingly forgotten.

“Del?” He called apprehensively, being sure to keep his voice low and soft.

Delirious jumped anyway, bringing his face up to look at him, and immediately Evan was struck by something. Not the hollow look in his eyes, or the haunted expression that appeared on his face-even though that _did_ worry him a lot-but the way he looked. Despite the clown makeup that his avatar always wore, he could see a visible difference between his character and himself. Or at least, what he assumed he looked like in real life. It was in the sharper lines of his face, the brighter hue of his eyes, the messiness of his dark hair.

“Evan? Why-Why do you look… Why did I… What’s going on?” He stammered his question out, somehow sounding both confused and panicked at the same time. And Evan absolutely didn’t blame him for it.

“I... don’t have a good answer to that.” He admitted truthfully, sinking down to sit next to Jonathon. “All I know is that… When we die, we _feel_ like we die. Pain and everything.”

“I… I didn’t know. I wanted to-I was just… Heading to you guys and the engine was shot out. I-I didn’t think…” The words caught in his throat, unable to voice his thoughts. He didn’t need to though; the stricken look on his face said it all.

He reached a hand out and gingerly placed it on his back-he wasn’t sure if Del would even be okay with the gesture, after all. But by the way he melted into his touch, he assumed it was fine.

“I know, Del. I know.”

“Did…” He started, then paused, looking nervous, then seemed to force himself to continue. “I saw your name a while ago. Did you…?”

Evan guessed what he was trying to ask and decided to answer before he made himself finish. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ve died.”

There was silence for some time after that, neither of them saying anything. Neither of them _needing_ to say anything. Because Evan understood. It was… It wasn’t nice to die, to say the least. He was sure that it was more than that, though. Jon had killed three others when he had gone down. It wasn’t just the pain and the horror that lingered in his eyes. It was the guilt. And Evan hated seeing him like that. He absentmindedly ran his hand up and down his back, providing what little comfort he could in the only way he knew how to without being weird.

“Evan?” He glanced at him, a silent question in his eyes. But Delirious wasn’t looking at him. His face was pinched into a frown as he stared down the road at something. “Is that… Cartoonz and Ohm?”

“What? Where?”

His answer came in the form of squealing tires and an ear shattering crash that rang through the air, the crunching of metal on metal and the shattering of glass appearing in a jarring clash of sound.

His eyes snapped up, wide and stunned, and saw the sight of what looked like a horrific car crash across the street, the vehicle having slammed into the wall of a building.

“What the-”

“Cartoonz!” Delirious darted off before Evan could fully comprehend what was happening.

Cartoonz? He crossed the street hurriedly, not quite knowing when he had gotten to his feet again, but not caring either way. Had Cartoonz been in the car?

“Cartoonz, hang on!” Oh. Well, that pretty much answered his question. He rushed towards Delirious, who was trying frantically to yank open the door to the drivers seat. The closer he got to the wrecked car, the more damage he could see. Parts were scattered all over the place and the air stank with an overpowering, toxic smell of petrol fumes. The car itself was completely totalled, the front smashed in from the impact with the wall and the drivers side crumpled in on itself. He had just managed to catch sight of Luke slumped over the steering wheel, still and unresponsive, when those by now far too familiar words flashed over his vision.

_‘_CaRtOoNz died.’_

“Dammit. We’re too late.” Delirious said, hands dropping to his sides.

“Del, hang on. I think Ohm’s still alive.” He moved around to the other side of the car, stomach sinking when he saw Ohm sagging forward in the passenger seat. He also wasn’t moving. But if he looked hard enough, he _could_ see his chest rising and falling slowly. “He is.” He pulled the door handle and, luckily enough, the door wasn’t jammed. It swung open with a painful sounding creak. It seemed to rouse Ohm to an extent, judging by the low groan that came from him and the way he shifted slightly.

“T-Toonzy?” He asked, voice hoarse and barely recognizable. He lifted his head sluggishly, as if to look at Cartoonz, just in time to see his body fade out of existence. He tilted his head the other way, revealing a bloodied and blindfolded face to Evan. Blood dripped down from a nasty cut on his forehead, staining the grey material that was tied around his eyes with red. A few smaller scratches marred his cheeks, but none of them looked nearly as bad. He sat up a bit further, letting out a pained hiss of breath and grimacing from the movement. With his new position he could see the full extent of his injuries. His left arm hung limply at his side and a large shard of glass stuck out from his other shoulder in a way that he was sure must’ve been extremely painful for him. “Evan?” He croaked.

“Yeah. It’s me, man.” He forced himself to smile gently, trying to make it look as reassuring as he could. “It’s gonna be all right. We’re gonna get you all patched up, yeah?”

“Yeah.” He agreed listlessly, looking dazed more than pained at the moment. He helped his friend out of the battered car, just barely managing to catch him as he pitched forward, legs collapsing from beneath him. He almost fell from the sudden and rather unexpected added weight in his arms. But then Delirious was there, taking some of the weight as they helped Ohm stabilise himself again. “Sorry.” He apologised breathlessly, swaying on his feet once he managed to get control over his limbs again. He was cradling his arm to his stomach, and with every moment that passed, his shirt became redder and redder from his wound, concerningly enough.

“You don’t have to be sorry.” Jon shook his head, holding onto his uninjured shoulder to give him some semblance of support.

“I think…” He rasped, dropping his head to look at his arm. “I think my arm is broken.” He said it in such a… factual way, that it took a moment for his words to actually register in his mind.

And when it did, Evan couldn’t help but cringe, feeling the phantom pains and getting unpleasant flashbacks of when he had broken his own arm in high school. And that had _not_ been pleasant. “We’re gonna have to find something to set it with then.”

They shared matching looks of worry with each other when he didn’t even reply, head still hung low and his posture slouched. Like just standing there was exhausting. Which Evan was sure it must’ve been.

Evan cleared his throat, catching Ohm’s attention, who looked towards him lethargically. It was near impossible to tell what his expression was like behind his omega blindfold-blindfold? Huh, the game must’ve added it recently-but he could see just how shell shocked he was anyway. “We’re gonna have to get this glass shard out of your shoulder. Is… Is that okay?” He was a bit hesitant about all of this; he had no idea what to do in this kind of situation. But keeping a giant piece of glass in someone’s shoulder was bound to be bad news. And maybe because this whole thing was a game, it would stop bleeding eventually? He hoped that was the case, at least.

Ohm didn’t seem to bother considering it, only said a tired, ‘Yeah’ in confirmation.

He met Delirious’ eyes, nodding to him minutely. His friend winced, but understood what he wanted, and moved his hand to grasp onto Ohm’s injured shoulder. The masked gamer let out a quiet whine at the pressure and squirmed slightly, stopping only when Delirious’ hold on him tightened enough to keep him still.

“You’re gonna have to be still, Ohm.” He warned him gently, apprehensively reaching a hand out and getting a grip on the jutting out shard with his fingers. The surface was already slick with blood and he had to be careful not to let it slip while he was pulling. “This is gonna hurt.”

Without giving him any further warning, he ripped the glass from his shoulder. Ohm gasped and recoiled, a visible shudder running through him.

“It’s out, it’s out. It’s okay, Ohm, you’re okay.” Del soothed him, letting go of his shoulder to ease off some of the pain. Ryan stood there silently for some time, trembling like a hurt animal and clutching onto his arm.

Finally, he spoke again, and both he and Delirious let out grateful breaths when he did. “Son of a biscuit, that hurt.” He moaned, looking between the two of them slowly. This was the first time since the crash that he had sounded even half normal again. “There’s no painkillers in this game, are there?”

Delirious’ face cracked into a relieved smile at his words, his expression softening visibly. “’fraid not.”

“Damn.” He sighed, reaching his uninjured arm up to wipe some blood off of his forehead.

“We should probably actually go somewhere to see if there’s anything we can, like, patch you up with. Maybe go to somebody’s house or something.” Jonathon looked at him as he spoke.

It took a moment too long for him to realize what the look was for. He wanted validation from him. As if asking permission. “Oh, yeah. That’s a good idea, Del. We should go to the others and tell them.”

“Hang on, guys.” Ohm interjected, stopping them before they even started moving. “Someone please tell me what’s going on first.”

Knowing that Del was probably going to leave the explaining up to him, he exhaled slowly. Where to start?


	3. You look so pretty but you're gone so soon

“So… What do we do now?” Cartoonz was the one to finally break the silence that had fallen over the group once everyone had gathered together again. He and Ohm had taken this whole thing… Weirdly well. Besides from the initial shock that Cartoonz had shown through a rather bewildered shouting match between him and Del. Del had managed to calm him down pretty quickly though.

“The fuck if I know.” Brian huffed, Brock at his side and a dark look on his face. Clearly more moody than worried at this point. And by the matching look on Tyler’s face, he assumed it was because of their fight.

“Well Ohm is still bleeding, so I think our priority should be getting something to help with that.” Evan pointed out, eyeing the way the masked man was swaying on his feet, despite the fact that he was leaning heavily into Luke’s side and looked moments away from collapsing. “Maybe we should all go to someone’s place and just… stay there until we figure out what’s going on.”

“And how to fix it.” Lui pointed out.

“Exactly.”

“All right, so who’s house is the closest?” Tyler asked, scowling and holding onto his mask with a death grip.

Evan swiped his map into view across his eyes, tracking the area they were in slowly. “I think it’s mine, actually.”

Marcel let out an explosive breath of air. “Well then what are we waiting for? Let’s stop just standing out in the open and go somewhere safe. Maybe _then_ we won’t all die out of nowhere.” He sent a dirty look towards Del, who bristled visibly in response to it.

“Hey!”

“What?"

“Guys, chill.”

“It’s not my fault that-”

“Yeah, well I didn’t just kill a bunch of us-”

“Come on, guys-”

“He’s the one that-”

“Jesus Christ.”

“Well at least he didn’t do it on purpose like someone else here…”

“What the fuck, man? Don’t bring _me_ into this!”

“It’s true!”

Evan sighed slowly, moving a hand up to press his fingers against his head. Tensions were high in the group. They were cracking apart slowly. Unravelling at the seams. It was clear enough to him. Painstakingly clear. They were practically at each other’s throats. He was honestly surprised none of them had gotten physical just yet. And all the voices colliding together and yelling over each other to be heard was starting to give him a headache.

“Oh my god, shut_ up_!” Cartoonz finally snapped, a shout that rose above the other voices by far and silenced them all with only a few sharp words. Ohm jerked to the side, clearly caught off guard at the outburst. But Luke immediately moved an arm around his shoulders to reassure him, looking almost guilty at having given him a fright. His soft expression immediately hardened when he eventually lifted his gaze again, fixing each person individually with a glare. “Ohm’s just about to pass out at any second, so just shut the fuck up and let’s go already.”

“He’s right.” Evan agreed with a thankful glance in his direction. “I think it’s best that we don’t attract any unwanted attention, so maybe we shouldn’t steal anymore cars for now.” He pointed out, not wanting to get any stars. Because that was a sure way to get one-if not more-of them killed painfully.

“I’ve still got a car that I stole a while ago.” Lui said.

“I do too.” Marcel added.

“Okay, great. How many seats do they have?”

“Uhm… Four? Yeah, four.”

“Same.”

“All right… So, two people are gonna have to stay back for now and find another way to get there.” Evan pointed out.

Luke and Jon exchanged quick looks. “Del and I can call a taxi.” Cartoonz suggested, dropping his head again to frown down at Ohm, who by now had stopped moving entirely. And if that wasn’t worrying, then Evan didn’t know what was.

“You two sure?” He asked, a bit hesitant to leave either of them behind.

“Yeah, we’ll be fine.” Delirious shrugged, winding his fingers around the strings of his hoodie.

“Okay, so it’s sorted then. Let’s go.” With an unusual lack of chatter, they parted. It seemed they had come to a silent agreement on who to drive with, seeing as they all split up without needing any prompting.

Evan didn’t pay much mind to who was travelling with who though; he was a bit distracted by Ohm.

“C’mon bud, we’re gonna have to go to the car now.” Cartoonz was muttering to him while Del flitted around the two a bit awkwardly, as if he didn’t quite know what to do. Which was, quite frankly, understandable.

Ohm didn’t give even the slightest response that would indicate he had heard him at all though.

Luke gave Evan a concerned look when he didn’t react, worry flashing through his eyes. Without saying a word, he moved to the other side of Ryan and took his arm, moving it around his shoulders. “C’mon, man. Let’s get going.” He murmured, starting to walk. Ohm, while visibly unstable, didn’t protest in the slightest and just drifted along with them complacently.

Brock was waiting for them at the car, sunglasses perched on top of his head instead of over his eyes. Without having to be asked, he gently took Ohm from him when they got close enough and started helping him into the car. He took a step back, watching, as he and Cartoonz helped the injured man in. He _definitely _didn’t miss the way Luke’s touch lingered and he was reluctant to part from him. And not for the first time, he wondered if there was something more to their relationship than people knew.

Or maybe he was just reading a bit too much into it.

It would make a lot of sense if he _was_ right about it though.

Not that that was important right now.

Then Cartoonz was standing in front of him again, arms folded over his chest. “He’s gonna be okay, right?” He asked, entirely uneasy and trying not to show it. But by the way he kept shifting from side to side and the tense line of his shoulders, it was clear enough to see.

Evan’s eyes moved past him and to Ohm, who sat slumped over in the back of the car, Brock sitting next to him and trying his best to support him and keep him upright. “I hope so.” He answered truthfully.

Luke stood there for a moment longer, before his attempted façade cracked and he looked down, scuffing his shoes against the ground. “Just… Look after him, okay?”

“I will.” He promised, giving him what he hoped to be a reassuring smile.

With nothing else to say, the taller male turned on his heel and walked towards Jon, who stood with his back to them and his phone to his ear.

Vanoss, not wanting to waste any more time, stepped up to the car and ducked down to see inside. As he had expected, the passenger seat was open for him. But what _did_ surprise him was the fact that Marcel sat at the wheel.

“Are you…” He started off; admittedly a bit hesitant to continue when Marcel looked at him with a frigid gaze. “Are you sure you’re good to drive, man? Earlier you were kinda…”

“I’m fine.” He said, rolling his eyes so hard they might’ve rolled out of his head. “Just get in and let’s go.”

Biting his cheek to keep himself from arguing back, he did as told and got inside. He wasn’t even able to buckle up before they were taking off at a speed that definitely wasn’t safe. He would’ve at least commented on it, had he not been so worried about Ohm bleeding out in the backseat of the car. So maybe they could speed just this once… Besides, it’s not like this is real life anyways.

“You know where my place is, right?” He asked, glancing towards Marcel while putting his seatbelt on. Because yes, road safety is important even in a game.

“Yup. And we left before the others, so we should get there first.” He answered simply.

“Right.” He sighed. He turned his head over his shoulder to look at the back of the car. Brock was propping Ohm up as best he could, his expression twisted in concern and a grim look on his face. “How’s he doing?”

“Not good, I think. He’s lost a lot of blood. If we don’t get him some medical attention quickly…” He trailed off. He didn’t need to continue, after all. They all knew what would happen if they didn’t.

Marcel spoke up, voice uncertain, “Uhm… Evan? I think something’s wrong.” He turned back around in his seat just in time for a gun to go off.

He ducked instinctively, the window next to him cracking and spiderweb fractures spreading throughout the glass. “Brock, get Ohm down and protect him!” He shouted over the noise of gunshots, keeping his head down by his knees, even if the position was mildly uncomfortable. It was either that or have the risk of getting shot. “Marcel, we’ve got to lose them!” His shoulder slammed into the door as Marcel swerved around a corner harshly, a breath of air hissing out between gritted teeth. The sound of tires squealing and horns honking were just barely audible above the noise of constant gunfire. “Who are these people?” He demanded, scrolling through his weapon wheel and getting out an assault rifle.

“I don’t fucking know, Evan!” Marcel snapped back, leaning forward over the wheel in the closest thing to protection from the spray of bullets he could do. “They just-The NPC’s just started shooting for no goddam reason!”

“Fuck. It must be some sort of glitch. Okay, okay, just… Just keep driving and try to lose them.” He shifted and looked behind him at the backseats. Ohm lay stretched out over the seats while Brock sprawled over him like a human shield.

“You two all right?” He asked over the noise, having to grip onto the seat when they took another sharp corner to keep himself from jerking around too much.

“Yeah.” Brock answered, sounding shaken, but unhurt. Ohm didn’t respond though. He didn’t even move. Which definitely would’ve been much more concerning, had they not been in the middle of getting shot at.

Steeling himself, he quickly sat up and jabbed his elbow at the window. The already fractured glass broke entirely and shattered out onto the street, leaving shards of glass jutting out of the edge and some remnants to fall on his lap. He swept his arm over the window frame, pushing the leftover glass away. He thanked whatever deity was out there that his jacket was tough enough to not get slashed to ribbons from it.

He jolted when he saw a bullet fly through his peripheral vision, the whole reality of the situation terrifying him more than he would like to admit. He unbuckled hurriedly and leaned as far to the side as he possibly could, knowing he was just putting himself closer to the danger with every second that passed. But he had to do _something_ to help. And this was all he could do.

“Evan, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Marcel asked, glancing his way once or twice, but mainly focusing on navigating through the streets and between cars at high speeds.

Evan gave Basically a grin, hoping it looked at least halfway confident. “Something stupid.” He answered, then heaved himself out of the window until only his legs remained inside of the car.

And holy shit this was so much more terrifying than it looked like in movies.

The wind whipped and tugged at his clothes and hair unpleasantly, making it even harder to hang on. He felt like he was going to fall right out of the window at any given moment. He could hear someone shouting his name from inside the car, but he wasn’t all too sure who. He couldn’t identify it over the noises. Gripping onto the door as hard as his legs could, he twisted his body and aimed his gun at the pursuing car behind them.

Trying to keep his balance and his aim accurate at the same time was next to impossible, so he just settled with sending a returning spray of bullets roughly towards the people in the car. Luckily enough it seemed to work, as their car started swerving violently and the NPC’s ducked out of the way. The gunfire ceased for a few blissful moments. He didn’t let up though, and instead shifted his aim further downwards, hoping to shoot one of the tires out. His first few shots went wide though, especially when he had to flatten himself further against the car to avoid the bullets they shot back in retaliation, not hiding from his returning fire anymore now that they realised he was a terrible shot in this position.

He raised the gun up again, propping it against the roof of the car for a bit more support. The trigger clicked beneath his finger.

Oh no.

No, come on. Did he really just empty out the whole clip already? “Shit.” He swore, fumbling for another magazine.

Which of course, Marcel decided to be the perfect time to turn another corner.

Evan gasped and lurched backwards, gun falling from his hands in his desperate scrabble to find a grip before it was too late. His fingers slid over the smooth metal of the roof, unable to find a catch.

And suddenly he was falling backwards.

A hand grasped onto his jacket roughly and yanked him forward again, keeping him from slipping out entirely. The moment of support was just enough for him to be able to catch his balance again and find a place to hold onto. “Hold on, you dumbass!” Marcel shouted, tearing an almost hysterical laugh from Evan’s lips.

Because fucking hell, he _knew_ he was dumb. He knew this whole thing was dumb. And oh god did he regret ever thinking of doing this. But it was too late to back out now. Especially since the other car was gaining on them again.

He quickly scrolled through his weapon wheel, deciding to go with a more… explosive option this time. “Keep the car steady, Marcel!” He called to the driver, getting out a sticky bomb. He _really_ hoped he would be able to get this right.

The car swerved around a truck, running through a red light, then straightened out. Evan leaned back slightly, getting ready. With a silent prayer, he threw the bomb as hard as he could. And by some miracle, it landed slap bang on the middle of the car’s hood.

“I’m gonna blow them up!” He warned Marcel, getting the detonator ready.

The car rounded another corner, but this time he was slammed into the car chest first, rather than almost falling out. The air burst out of his chest painfully and his grip on the device slackened. But before he could accidentally drop it, he pressed the button.

It took barely a millisecond for the bomb to blow up, and by god was it a spectacular sight. The entire car exploded in a shower of flames and metal parts, the occupants of the vehicle disappearing in the dark smoke and fire that engulfed it.

“Yes!” Evan cheered, feeling weirdly exhilarated. Who knew explosions could be so fun to watch? He could feel the heat press against his face even from this distance, the car slowly getting the smaller the further they got from it. He stored the bombs back into his weapon wheel and slid back into the car the first chance he got. He sat back, panting and trying to catch his breath, a breathless grin on his face and adrenaline roaring through his veins. “Is everyone okay?”

“I am.” Marcel answered distractedly, glancing behind them through the rear-view mirror every so often, as if afraid to see another car chasing them. But there was no one there. For now, at the very least.

There came no response from the other two though. He turned around in his seat, smile faltering. “Brock?” Ohm still lay in the same position he had been in when he had seen him last. Unconscious or just too weak to do little more than lay there, he didn’t know. It didn’t help that his blindfold kept his eyes hidden.

But Brock in comparison was sitting up again, face pale and a faraway look in his eyes. His hand pressed against his stomach, as if he was feeling sick. He nodded minutely but didn’t verbally respond to his question.

He shakily drew his hand back and it quickly became obvious as to why though.

“Oh crap.” He breathed, stomach dropping when he saw the wound he had been hiding from view.

“What? What is it?” Marcel asked.

“Brock’s been shot.” He answered, twisting back to face the front again.

“_What?_” He looked at him with wide, shocked eyes.

A gunshot rang through the air and Marcel lurched forward, slumping over the steering wheel and blood splattering over the front window. _His_ blood.

“Marcel!” He lunged towards him and grabbed onto the wheel, but the car was already veering wildly.

_‘BasicallyIDoWrk died.’_

Trying his best to ignore the friend that lay motionless right by his hands, a horrifically gruesome hole in his head and his eyes staring off into the distance unseeingly, he yanked on the wheel in an attempt to get the car back under control, neck straining to be able to see the road properly in his awkward, stretched out position. Marcel’s body dissolved and the car swung to the side brutally when Evan accidentally jerked the wheel too hard, the sudden lack of resistance catching him by surprise.

He was aware of someone screaming but he wasn’t sure who it was-it could’ve been him for all he knew. The world rushed by in a flurry of shrieks and the blaring of car horns around him. A truck loomed over them and he couldn’t get them out of the way in time.

Then there was a bone-crunching crash, and everything went dark.

-

The first thing Evan noticed when he came to was the pain. The pain that ached throughout his whole body, stinging in some places and throbbing in others, but always there. A low grunt escaped his lips as he slowly lifted his head. He could taste blood in his mouth, coppery and disgusting. Had he bitten his tongue? He honestly didn’t know; it hurt too much everywhere for him to be able to identify exactly what injuries he had.

“Brock?” He groaned, shifting as much as he could bear to. “Ohm?” He cracked his eyes open, vision blurry and the world swirling before his eyes woozily, but he tried to ignore it and sluggishly pushed himself up until he was sitting properly. Although his arms trembled, they _were_ still functioning thankfully. He slumped back against the seat, a shaky sigh escaping his lips. While this position was still sore for him, it was a hell of a lot better than his previous one.

God, he hurt.

“Brock? Ohm?” He tried them again once his vision had cleared up a bit more. Hearing no response, he twisted his body around as much as he could-even if he was extremely slow in doing so. His whole body felt extraordinarily stiff and difficult to move. “Guys?”

It was only then that he noticed the by now far too familiar words on his screen.

_‘Moo_Snuckel died.’_

“Fuck.” He swore tiredly, tracing his eyes over the still form of his friend. Brock’s head hung awkwardly to the side in a way that a neck _definitely_ shouldn’t. And fuck, did he pity the guy. He knew exactly how it felt to break your neck. And die from it too. His nose bled profusely, red dripping over his unmoving lips and down his chin, dripping onto his lap occasionally. He’d probably hit the driver’s seat on the impact of the crash and broken his nose.

Ohm on the other hand, while still clearly alive, looked to be in even worse shape. He noticed Brock’s body disappearing in the corner of his eyes, but Ohm was a more pressing concern right now. He twitched and spasmed where he lay, wet, gasping sounds coming from him. A shard of jagged metal stuck out from his neck, blood pooling from the wound.

“Ohm?” He stretched a hand back, reaching for him despite his body shrieking its protest at the strain. “Ohm, it’s gonna be all right, bud.” He tried to get himself up so he could crawl to the back and get to his friend’s aid. But as soon as he tried, agony surged through him and a strangled cry tore itself from his throat, something that felt like fire racing up his leg and through his body. “Shit, shit, shit.” He panted, all but collapsing back onto the seat again.

Oh god, his leg… He could feel himself break into an almost feverish sweat at the pain.

He gritted his teeth and looked over his shoulder as much as his aching body would allow, knowing he wouldn’t be able to reach the masked gamer in time by now. Not in the state his body was in.

He doubled over as a fit of coughs wracked his body violently, blood spattering from his mouth. Which probably was more worrying than he wanted to believe it was.

“Ryan?” He tried again desperately, voice barely more than a wheeze. “Ryan, just hang on,” He rasped, not bothering to wipe away the blood that dripped out of the corner of his mouth. “Ryan, please, just… ”

_‘Ohmwrecker died.’_

“Fuck…” He whimpered, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. Defeated. He didn’t save Ohm.

Why was this happening to them?

He felt something warm and sticky drip down the side of his head and automatically reached a hand up to feel what it was. His hand came back dipped in red. He moved his hand back, feeling around his head for the source of the bleeding. He winced when a sharp sting appeared when his fingers came into contact with a large laceration hidden in his hair. Great. A head wound.

He dropped his head, wearily looking over his body for any other injuries, and-

Good god, how had he not noticed the large piece of glass sticking out from his stomach before now? The lower front of his shirt had been stained almost entirely with blood, and he hadn’t even realised it.

“Oh.” He breathed; a bit too deadened to the fact that he had been skewered by a glass shard than he normally would be. Either he was so in shock that he had started losing feeling in his body, or he was just so sore that he had started growing numb to the pain. He didn’t really care at this point.

He clumsily reached out and grasped at the door handle, tugging on it. It wasn’t jammed shut, thank god, and the door swung open with only the slightest bit of resistance. He tried to step out, only for the same sort of fiery pain that he had felt before to spike through him. He jerked forward instinctively and fell out of the car entirely, a cry of agony tearing from his bloodstained lips. He hit the ground brutally hard, landing on his stomach, the glass jabbing deeper into him and cutting him open further from the impact. He cried out and clumsily fumbled against the ground until he was able to get a grip and roll himself onto his side.

He lay there curled in on himself, body twitching and shaking violently. He sobbed out loud, tears stinging at his eyes.

Oh god, oh god, _oh_ _god_, he was in so much pain.

His stomach, his leg, his head.

He hurt. God, he hurt.

_He hurt so much._

He let out a pained whimper when something hard slammed into his shoulder and he was shoved over and onto his back. He gasped, tears streaming down his face, as he stared up at a masked figure. The NPC wore a black bandanna over the lower half of his face, the teeth of a white skull on it and dark sunglasses hiding his eyes.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Evan Fong.” He said. He tilted his head to the side. “Or do you prefer the name Vanoss? Bat Owl? Rynx?”

Evan’s eyes went wide. “Who are you?” He demanded, trying to sound even slightly in control of himself. But his voice sounded far too raspy and hoarse for it to sound anything but distressed.

The man hummed and he assumed he was smiling from beneath his mask. “Oh, I’m no one. Just a… fan of sorts.” A pistol materialised in his hand and aimed it at his head without hesitation. “It’s time for you to go join the others. But don’t you worry. I’ll be seeing you again soon, Evan.”

“Wait-!”

The gun went off and fire shot through his head.

Then he was falling again, screaming mutely in the cold, never ending abyss that was death. The image of his killer flashed before his eyes in the eternal darkness, a leering skull grinning down at him.

_“It’s nice to finally meet you, Vanoss.”_

He reappeared in the real world with a gasp and teetered unsteadily on his feet, the aches of his now healed injuries still lingering with phantom pains. But even then, Evan felt like he wanted to cry with relief.

He took an experimental step forward, an almost hysterical, delirious laugh escaping him. His leg ached, that was for sure. But he could _walk_. His leg wasn’t broken. His stomach stung from the residual effects, but there was no glass digging into his skin. No blood dripping from his wounds and staining his clothing.

_He was so fucking relieved._

He stilled. That NPC had recognised him. Had _spoken_ to him. It was impossible, but it had happened.

Unless…. It wasn’t an NPC at all.

“Evan!” He flinched and turned around, already scrolling through his weapon wheel.

It was only Marcel though. He sighed and put his weapons away again, relaxing. “Hey.”

“What the fuck happened back there?” He asked, eyes blown wide and his confusion visible.

“I honestly have no idea.” Evan answered him truthfully, running his fingers through his hair. “Where are we? And where are the others?”

“We actually spawned pretty close to your base. Cartoonz and Delirious found Ohm on the way and are giving him a lift. But I don’t know where Brock is.”

Vanoss nodded in understanding, checking his map quickly. And thankfully enough, Marcel was right. They were only a block away from his apartment. “Let’s just walk the rest of the way then. I’m sure Brock will be able to find his way there.” Or at the very least, he hoped he would.

It turns out he needn’t have worried, because the moment they had crossed the street, there was someone calling their names.

“Are you guys okay?” Brock asked, coming to a slow stop in front of them.

“As good as we can be, I guess.” Marcel responded dryly.

“We’re all right.” Evan started walking and the other two quickly followed suit. “What about you?”

“Still a little shocked, but… Fine.” Brock shrugged, glancing at him every few seconds. After about a dozen of those little looks, he finally felt the urge to speak up.

“_What_?” He arched an eyebrow, admittedly a bit amused when Brock looked surprised by being confronted.

“What?”

“You keep looking at me like something’s off.” Marcel gave them both a curious look but didn’t intervene.

“It’s-I just-” He started, stumbling over his words a little bit. Clearly uncertain, until he finally just blurted out, “You’re limping.”

Limping?

Oh. Now that he paid attention to it, he _had_ been walking a bit… weirdly. His leg still ached, after all. He must’ve been limping without even realising it.

“I hurt my leg before I died. I guess it’s still a bit sore, that’s all.” Wow. That was _definitely_ not a sentence he ever thought he’d have to say. Brock mouthed the word ‘oh’ and went quiet.

They walked in silence after that. And before they knew it, they were at the building. Cartoonz stood outside, arms folded over his chest and a frown on his face. He looked up when they approached.

“Hey, guys.” He greeted them, not sounding all too happy. “Everyone else is upstairs.” He told them, then turned his gaze onto Evan. “You mind if I talk to you before you head up?”

He caught the matching looks Marcel and Brock flashed him, seeming almost concerned. Because it was definitely clear to see that Cartoonz wasn’t in the best of moods. He rolled his eyes, feeling a sort of fondness creeping up through him. “Go on up, guys. I’ll follow you in a minute.” They both hesitated for a moment, then gave in and pushed through the front doors.

As soon as they were out of sight, a hand grabbed onto the collar of his jacket and he was pulled forward, a scowling Luke towering over him. He struggled for a moment, before stopping and relaxing, knowing he wasn’t going to hurt him.

Or, hoping, at the very least.

“What the fuck happened to y’all on the way here?” He demanded.

Vanoss blinked.

Oh. Right. Ohm had died and he was supposed to have protected him.

“We don’t actually know, man. Some NPC’s just started shooting at us and everything went out of control.” He explained, keeping his voice even.

“I told you to look after him!” He snapped, shaking him once vehemently.

“The car crashed, Luke!” He defended himself, a frown settling over his expression now. He refused to admit he was worried. Because even though he was sure nothing would happen, he also knew that Luke was quite a bit bigger than him. “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t do anything about it!”

“Yeah, well, that doesn’t excuse the fact that I found my boyfriend almost having a panic attack on the side of the road!” He seethed.

Evan stopped. Wait…

What?

Did he just hear correctly? It was entirely off topic, but he couldn’t stop his mouth from running, too curious to say anything but, “Wait, are you and Ohm dating?”

Luke froze, colour rising into his cheeks and unintelligible sounds coming out of his mouth, as if trying to formulate a sentence and failing miserably at it. His hold on his jacket disappeared and he took a step back, clearly mortified by what he could only assume had been a slip of the tongue. “That’s-I don’t-It’s-” He stammered over his words. “That’s not the point, Evan!”

“Right, right. Sorry.” Evan did have the good grace to feel at least slightly guilty about changing the subject like that and embarrassing him so much. If only a tiny bit. “Look, I-I _am_ sorry about not being able to protect him better. But I did my best, man.”

Luke ran his hands over his face, cheeks still flushed and expression troubled. But at least he didn’t look angry anymore. Just a bit… sheepish. “Yeah, all right. I get you.” He grimaced. “I, uh… I might’ve overreacted a little bit anyway…”

Evan couldn’t help but let out a huff of laughter, a tired sound even to his own ears. “You’re fine, Luke. I think everyone’s a little high-strung right now.”

“You’ve got that right.” He exhaled slowly.

“Let’s go join the others.” He suggested, patting him on the shoulder reassuringly. When the taller gamer nodded easily, he started walking and pushed through the front door of the building.

It was a bit bizarre to be in the building for once. He was much more used to being teleported from the door and straight inside his place. But now he found that he had to _find_ his way to his own apartment. It was a good thing that his friends were able to enter his place without permission here, otherwise they might’ve been locked out entirely until he had arrived.

Luckily enough, he managed to find the right place quickly enough. Probably because the elevator only had one button and the hallway it had opened out into only had one door. He just assumed it was his. He was proven to be right when he heard the voices of the others coming from inside.

He opened the door and stepped inside, eyes flickering around slowly. Again, he was struck by how weird this all was. He was literally standing in his apartment. Even after seeing it so many times when he played the game on his computer, it was still so unfamiliar-yet so familiar at the same time. So _different_ to literally be standing in it instead of just looking from the outside.

“-and these NPC’s just started shooting at us for no reason!” Marcel sat on a couch, surrounded by the others as he dramatically retold the events from earlier, their attention all on him.

Ohm sat quietly next to Delirious, knees pulled up against his chest and arms wrapped around his legs. It was hard to read his expression with that blindfold of his, but he didn’t seem to be paying all too much attention to Marcel.

“There had to be some sort of reason for them doing that, dude.” Tyler protested, a frown sitting heavily on his face. “NPC’s just don’t attack for nothing.”

“I’m telling you, man. They came after us for no reason. We didn’t provoke them or anything.”

“He’s telling the truth.” Brock added in from where he sat next to Brian, their legs pressed against each other’s, and fingers intertwined. Evan knew the two of them weren’t exactly a couple that flaunted the fact they were dating to everyone, especially in front of their friends, but he also knew that the both of them probably needed all the comfort they could get right now.

It was sweet, really.

And he didn’t know why it made his heart feel so tight like it did.

“Exactly! So, I started trying to lose them and Evan-fucking dumbass-climbed out of the window and started shooting back.” Marcel continued his story, waving his hands around every so often for effect. “He threw a bomb and the car exploded. But just when we thought we were safe, _blam_! They shot me in the fucking head!”

Delirious looked up, the first to finally noticed them. He was sure that if he hadn’t been wearing his mask, they would’ve been able to see relief trickling over his face. “There you guys are.” He interrupted the recount, causing everyone to shift their attention to the two of them. A soft murmuring of acknowledgements filled the room as they greeted them.

“Evan, man,” Tyler started, a grin lighting his face up. “Good to see you made it here in one piece.”

“Just barely.” He responded tiredly.

Brock gave him a curious raise of an eyebrow; clearly wondering about the chat that he and Luke had had minutes prior. He only gave him a quick smile in reassurance though. If he really wanted to know, he’d tell him later.

Cartoonz took a seat in between Jonathon and Ohm, draping an arm over the back of the couch behind the latter. They shared a quick look, Luke giving the other a tentative, but warm smile. Ohm shifted closer to him, body relaxing ever so slightly, as if his presence alone was enough to put him at ease. If Evan hadn’t been aware of what was going on between the two of them, he probably wouldn’t have even noticed the subtle indications that hinted at something more than just a friendship.

“So, what happened after Marcel died?” Brian pressed inquisitively, glancing between Marcel and Evan in turns.

“We crashed.” He said, all but collapsing into an open seat. “I tried to get the car under control, but…” He shrugged. “Brock had been shot and died on impact. Ohm bled out not long after.” At the sound of his name, the masked gamer looked up and at him. He internally resolved to approach him later and talk to him. From the ashen colour of his face and the way his lips had gone thin, he assumed the guy wasn’t doing all too well with… well, dying. He was glad Cartoonz was right there beside him to give him some silent support.

“You died quite a while after the others though.” Nogla pointed out, he and Lui sitting close together on the same couch Tyler sat on, their knees bumping together occasionally with their close proximity.

Evan hesitated, unsure of how to continue. “That’s because I… I didn’t die in the car crash. I had pulled myself out of the wreckage, but there was someone else there. He shot me while I was down.”

“You mean an NPC just… just executed you?” Lui questioned, leaning forward and resting his arms on his legs.

He exhaled slowly and nodded. “There’s more though. I… I don’t think he was an NPC.” He admitted, slowly tracing his eyes over each of them individually. It was obvious that he had their undivided attention, which, admittedly, made explaining much easier.

“Huh?” Tyler frowned, confusion flickering in his blue eyes. “How? Why would you think that?”

“He spoke to me. He knew my _name_.”


	4. If lies were cats, you'd be a litter

Unease hung over them, heavy and stifling. No one seemed to know what to say, which was… understandable, to say the least. Because what he had just said should be impossible. _Was_ impossible. But it had happened, nonetheless.

“Are you sure?” Brian pressed, frowning. “I mean, maybe you were mistaken?”

Evan shook his head, playing with his gloves absentmindedly. Anything to settle the restlessness he felt vibrating through him. “No. He called me other names-nicknames too.” He recalled, eyes dropping slightly and eyebrows creasing together. “Vanoss. Rynx. Even Bat Owl.”

“So it’s someone who knows you then?” Tyler asked, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his legs.

“Not personally. He said that it was nice to finally meet me. He called himself a fan.” He continued, admittedly a bit hesitantly.

“A fan?” Lui piped in, his confusion audible. “How did he get into this server with us?”

“He shouldn’t have been able to. We made sure it was private.”

“Unless… You don’t think he could be the one who gave us the VR sets in the first place, do you?” Brock questioned, his apprehension visible in the way his fingers went tight around Brian’s, who pressed against him closer, providing him with some extra reassurance. Because by the look on both of their faces, they were both extremely anxious about the suggestion. Everyone in the room seemed to be. It definitely wasn’t a surprise though. Evan himself could feel his stomach sink unpleasantly at the thought.

“It’s… a possibility, unfortunately.” He admitted grimly. “He could’ve been watching us-_stalking _us, to find out where we lived, so that he could send us those packages.”

“This whole thing might’ve been orchestrated by this guy.” Ryan murmured, speaking up for the first time since he had arrived.

“And you have no idea who he was?” Nogla clarified.

Evan winced, dropping his gaze. “Not a clue… I’m sorry, guys.”

“You don’t have to apologise.” Del said, legs hanging over the arm of the couch and back pressed against Luke’s shoulder. Even without being able to see his face, he could practically hear the smile in his voice. It was weirdly heartening.

“So… What are we gonna do now?” Brian finally asked the question that had been on everyone’s tongue.

They were all quiet for a few tense moments, none of them quite knowing how to respond. None of them knew_ what_ to do, after all. This kind of thing was impossible-or, should’ve been impossible. Getting trapped in a game? That was the kind of stuff that only happens in movies and books, not real life. But here they were, so he guessed he was wrong about that.

“I guess we just have to figure out how to get out of this mess.” He shrugged, deciding to break the silence.

“Did the guy say anything else to you?” Lui inquired, expression hidden from beneath his mask. He and Delirious seemed to be the only ones that had chosen to keep wearing their masks. Ohm too, if you counted his blindfold to be a mask. Even Marcel had taken his off not too long ago.

Vanoss could practically feel the heat of multiple gazes falling on him at the question. He shifted uncomfortably.

_“I’ll be seeing you again soon, Evan.”_

“No.” He lied through his teeth, speaking without really thinking about it. He wasn’t all too sure why he hadn’t told them the truth, but he didn’t linger on it anyway. After all, it could’ve just been an empty promise. Or was it more of a threat?

Whatever the case, he ignored the way Jon stared at him a moment too long, head tilted to the side and curiosity evident in his eyes; the only part of his face visible for him to see. He didn’t comment on whatever was on his mind though, and for some reason, Evan felt almost grateful.

“The first thing we need to figure out is how and when this whole thing started. Maybe then we’ll find out how we can reverse it. Or the cause at the very least.” Brock said, drawing a soft murmuring of agreements from the others.

“But how long is that gonna take? Because if NPC’s will just randomly attack us, then we’re gonna have to find somewhere safe.” Marcel supplied.

“Well we’re in Evan’s apartment. I think here might be one of the safest places we can stay.” Tyler responded, gesturing around.

“Not unless the mystery guy knows where his place is.” Luke pointed out.

Evan made a small noise of agreement. “He’s right. If he really is a fan, then it’s definitely possible he knows we’re here.”

“He might even know where _all_ of our places are in the game.”

“So we’ve pretty much got nowhere that’s safe.” Brian sighed.

“Pretty much.” Lui agreed glumly.

“Shit.” Nogla swore softly, pinching at the bridge of his nose like he had a headache.

“We can either stay here and risk him finding us, or we can try find somewhere else to lay low for now.” Evan said. He absentmindedly pulled off one of his gloves as he fiddled with it; his hands needing something to do.

“Do you guys really think he can take on all of us?” Brian pointed out, looking around imploringly. “I mean, maybe he’s less dangerous than we’re giving him credit for. He’s just one guy, after all.”

“We don’t know that it’s only one guy though. There could be others and we just haven’t seen them.” Evan shook his head slowly as he spoke. He somehow doubted that the guy wasn’t too dangerous. It just didn’t seem right to him.

“Unfortunately, we just have no idea of knowing for sure. We just have to decide on what to do and hope it’s the right choice.” Brock added complacently.

Tyler crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair. “I think we should go out and find a new place. ‘Cause I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t think staying here is safe.”

“Oh, so we should go outside and risk dying again?” Brian deadpanned, giving Tyler a quick, irritated look.

“Well it’s better than staying here where that guy can come for us at any moment.” Tyler argued, a sort of heated frustration colouring his tone.

“We don’t even know if he’s that dangerous.” Brian pointed out defensively.

“He killed Evan!” Tyler snapped, his glare matching Brian’s.

“And a train killed Marcel!” Brian seethed back. “Leaving would be suicide; it’s more dangerous out there than in here and that’s a fact.”

Brock, ever the peacemaker, tried to interject “I don’t think we should fight about this-”

“Shut up, Brock!”

“Hey, don’t talk to him like that!” Brian shot up from his seat and made towards Tyler, but Brock held him back, refusing to let go of his hand and preventing him from going for him. He very nearly pulled Moo off the couch entirely as he did. He held fast though, an exasperated but determined expression on his face. “What the fuck is your deal, man?”

Tyler didn’t seem to like Brian doing that and stood up as well, face flushed angrily. “What the fuck is my deal?” He repeated him, outraged.

He took a step forward and Evan took that as his cue to stand up as well. He might need to actually step in before an actual fight to broke out between them, or at the very least, keep Tyler from throwing a punch. “Guys-”

“You’re being a fucking cunt, that’s what; thinking you know what’s best for us when you haven’t even died yet!” Tyler fumed, taking no notice of Evan. His hands balled into fists

“That has nothing to do with anything!” Brian raged back, tugging against Brock’s hold-who actually looked like he was struggling to hold him back at this point.

“Yes, it does!”

“_That’s enough!_”

They all fell silent. Wide, surprised eyes flickered over to look at Evan, everyone having gone quiet and still within seconds at his outburst. Stunned. Because when was the last time _any _of them heard him lose his temper, even in the slightest?

“That’s enough.” He repeated firmly, looking at Brian and Tyler pointedly in turns. “You two are being fucking idiots.”

Brock tugged on Brian’s hand, a silent appeal that he seemed to get. And this time, he actually complied, taking a seat on the couch again. Tyler also seemed to deflate further when Terroriser went to stand down.

“The more we fight, the more time we waste when we could be doing something productive.” He continued resolutely. “I get it. We all do. We’re all scared and stressed and looking for someone to blame, just like you are. But we can’t just be at each other’s throats like this. It’s only gonna cause more of an issue. Okay?”

The two gamers gave each other reproachful looks, then one by one nodded begrudgingly.

Evan exhaled slowly, relieved that they weren’t in each other’s faces anymore. “Good. Now does anyone have anything they want to say?” He looked at Nogla when he stuck a hand up like a child in a classroom, prompting him wordlessly.

“There’s a helicopter outside the window.” Nogla said.

Huh?

Evan turned his gaze to the windows that replaced the wall of his apartment, recoiling when he saw that Nogla was most definitely correct. The large, dark shape of a helicopter hovered all too close to the building, facing them.

“What the f-”

“Get down!” Ohm yelled suddenly, grabbing onto Cartoonz and Tyler-the two closest people to him-and throwing them forward and onto the ground. Barely a second later he realised why:

The helicopter was shooting a rocket at them.

A blur of blue rushed at him and he was all but tackled to the ground. Just in time it seemed, as the moment he hit the floor there was an ear shattering ‘_boom_’ and the windows exploded inwards in a flurry of glass and flames.

He opened his eyes and flinched slightly, admittedly a bit surprised when he came face to face with a hockey mask.

Delirious.

Delirious had shoved him to safety and now lay sprawled over of him.

Had it been any other situation, he probably would’ve been a flustered mess already778

. But right now, there was an attack helicopter shooting at them, and any part of him that might’ve been embarrassed was overtaken by the sudden rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins.

Jon scrambled off of him and Evan hastily got back onto his feet, already getting a weapon out. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Del doing the same.

“Everyone get to cover!” He called, hiding behind the closest couch. Del followed him, crouching next to him. Brian was helping Brock up to his feet, and Ryan, Luke and Tyler were already shooting at the helicopter. The others were still dashing around to find cover.

He peeked over the top of the couch, then ducked down again when a rocket came soaring from the helicopter. It hit the far wall behind them, sending a wave of pressure and heat against them. He gritted his teeth when he was flung forward and into the couch. He immediately stood once he had recovered and started shooting towards the pilot of the aircraft.

But as their seemingly non-existent luck would have it, the glass appeared to be bulletproof, so their shots just glanced off of it without even leaving any scratches. “Shit.” He swore, ducking down again and scrolling through his weapon wheel.

Time to bring out the big guns.

Literally.

Barely a second later an RPG materialised, large and heavy in his arms. He staggered under the unexpected weight for a moment, before propping it up on his shoulder to balance it. He heard someone whistle and glanced to his side, an almost amused smile flashing over his face momentarily when he noticed Del was staring at him.

“Don’t miss.” He commented, reloading his own gun as he spoke.

“I won’t.” He promised in what he hoped was a confident tone. Internally he was freaking out more than he would ever like to admit. Because if things went badly, he might injure one of his friends.

He stood up again, unsteadily aiming the weapon towards the helicopter. Before he could get the chance to shoot at it, a rocket was already being fired. This one, unlike the others, actually landed close enough for him to feel shards of something sent crashing against his back,.

He was thrown forward violently and slammed into the couch hard enough for the RPG to go flying from his hands. “No!”

_‘TheTerroriser died.’_

Ignoring the heat of the flames on his back and the dull ache in his chest at the words that flickered across his eyes, he vaulted over the couch. He raced for the weapon that had skidded across the floor and had landed dangerously close to the edge of the broken window. He slid to a stop _far_ too close to the window. He could see the entire city from there and he could feel the wind pulling at him. But ignoring that and the way his heart dropped, he grabbed the weapon again.

Shutting one eye in an attempt to aim better, he placed his sights on the dark shape of the helicopter. At this distance, he could just barely make out a face with a skull bandanna sitting in the pilot’s seat. Only this time he wasn’t wearing sunglasses. But still he recognised the person immediately.

It was him. The guy who had killed him.

He caught eyes with the figure briefly, a silent challenge echoed along the distant gaze.

He exhaled slowly.

He pulled the trigger.

He jerked back at the strong kick, the rocket soaring straight towards the aircraft at the same time the man fired his own rocket.

His hit first. The helicopter blew up in a shower of sparks and metal; the sound almost deafening to his already battered ears. Then the second rocket hit somewhere close behind him.

The explosion threw him forward, his weapon once again tumbling from his hands. But that was the least of his worries, because suddenly he found himself tipping right over the broken shards of the window’s edge.

For one terrifying moment he hung in the air, breath caught in his throat and blood cold in his veins.

Then he was falling.

He twisted around and flung his hand out frantically, desperate to find anything that would save him. _Anything_ at all.

His hand snagged on the edge of the window, a gasp tearing itself from his lips when the leftover shattered glass sank into his exposed hand. His shoulder jerked painfully as his arm caught the weight of his fall, body slamming into the building. He almost lost his grip, but forced himself to tighten his hold, trying his best to ignore the way the glass dug deeper into his hand when he did.

He internally cursed himself for taking off his glove earlier. He was sure that he would not be in nearly as much pain if he hadn’t.

He didn’t want to look down, but his eyes wandered anyway.

And oh god, what a bad idea that was.

He was _literally_ dangling out of the edge of a skyscraper-like building. The cars that drifted along the street looked like insects at this height, the NPC’s like ants.

His hands went tingly with fear and his stomach flipped. Something warm dripped down his wrist slowly. A small noise of horror escaped his throat when his hand slipped fractionally, thoughts coming to a shuddering halt in his fear.

“Evan!” He looked up just in time for a hand to grasp onto his wrist. He winced at the sharp prickle of pain that spread along his hand. Delirious was leaning out of the window precariously, his mask discarded and a panicked expression on his face. “Hang-Hang on! I’m gonna get you up!”

He could feel his fingers slowly becoming numb and his hand slid further down, almost letting go without him meaning to.

If it weren’t for Delirious’ grip on his wrist, he probably would’ve already fallen. He could already feel him slipping further and further down, despite Jonathon’s best efforts, his hand far too slippery with his own blood.

He could feel Del’s arm trembling and could see his jaw clenched in his strain. He looked about to tip over the edge with him at any moment, and that-weirdly enough-worried Evan more than falling did.

“Jon-”

“Ju-Just hang on! I can pull-I can pull you up! Just keep holding on!” He blabbered, grasping onto his hand by now. It stung dreadfully, but he couldn’t bring himself to care about that all too much. His hand was still slipping though, and by the look in Del’s eyes, he knew it too. “Just keep holdin’ on!”

And then his hand was grasping on air and he was falling.

“_Evan!_”

The wind tore at his hair and clothes as he plummeted down, ripping tears from his stinging eyes and a scream from his mouth. Jonathon’s horrified face grew more distant within moments, until he couldn’t even see his expression anymore. But still he kept his eyes on him; the only comfort-though a miniscule one-that he could find in his terrifying situation. His breath was snatched from his throat and his heart shuddered in his ribcage. The buildings rose up higher and higher around him the lower he went, looming over him.

There was a fleeting moment of dizzying, frightening anticipation. The petrifying expectancy that soon he would meet the pavement, most likely hard enough to break every bone in his body and kill him on impact. The agony that would accompany him after his death.

He was going to die again, and it was probably the waiting that scared him the most.

He hit the ground with a series of sickening cracks and a pain that shot agonizingly through his whole body and was immediately plunged into another freefall. This one a bone chilling cold rather than a skin crawling cold. More like falling through water than air, but still just as frightening. Just as suffocating.

The world snapped into place around him in a flurry of headache inducing bright colours and sounds.

He sank to the ground, eyes glassy and body shaking violently. A fiery sort of pain burned across his back and throughout his body, ebbing and flowing at fluctuating intervals that made it nearly impossible for him to even try to ignore it.

He unsteadily lifted a hand and ran it through his hair, trying his best to ignore the fact that he was trembling like a leaf in a gale. He his heart hammered away in his chest loudly and his pulse throbbed almost painfully in his head.

He could still feel himself falling. The weightlessness that accompanied it. The feeling of plummeting through the air. The knowledge that he was about to die.

He quivered and pressed his hands against his eyes, hating how they prickled and stung with the promise of tears. Material brushed against his face from his one hand, the other smooth and cold against his skin. A stark contrast that served as a reminder.

He’d been a real dumbass to take off his glove in the first place and he knew it.

Something warm slid down his cold cheeks, tears finally escaping his eyes and pressing against his hands. A quiet sob spilt itself from his lips, his shoulders wracking.

He couldn’t do this.

He couldn’t do this anymore.

Was he really doomed to spend the rest of his life trapped here?

Dying over and over and _over._

Watching his friends doing the same and not being able to help them.

He couldn’t take it any longer.

It was like he was losing his grip on reality entirely. Was this still a game or was it real life at this point? He could barely tell anymore, not with his sanity ripping apart at the very seams.

“Evan!”

He carefully lifted his head again, wiping away the tear tracks that stained his face with his sleeves. Delirious was running to him, his worry shining in his striking eyes.

“Jon.” He breathed, something akin to relief washing over him like a soothing balm. And then he was there, crouched down right in front of him and hugging him tightly, hands grasping at his jacket securely. As if Delirious was reassuring himself that he was physically there. Almost like he was terrified that if he let go, he’d disappear entirely.

Or rather, fall again.

And honestly, Vanoss understood his fear.

Warmth seeped through him slowly from the body pressed against his, thawing the icy cold that had deadened his limbs almost to numbness. A warmth that made a fresh wave of tears spill over from his eyes and his body tremble with the blissful feeling of comfort.

He clutched onto Jonathon like he was a lifeline, pressing his face into his shoulder and twisting his fingers in the surprisingly soft material of his hoodie. It was actually quite grounding to be able to hold him like this, easing away the panic attack that he had almost had before it could become worse.

“I-I-I-I’m so sorry, Evan, I’m so, so sorry. I tried to-to hold on to you, I really tried to.” Del rambled on frantically, his jumpiness causing him to stumble over his words more than usual. So much so that he actually found it a bit difficult to decipher what exactly he was saying.

A breathless, almost feverish laugh huffed from his lips. “Jon-”

“I’m so sorry, I should’ve held on to you tighter, I shouldn’t have let you slip-or-or let you fall, and-”

“Jon.” He interrupted him again, finally withdrawing to actually look him in the eyes. He knew he likely looked a mess; red rimmed and glossy eyes, flushed cheeks stained with tears, and hair sticking up in random places, but he didn’t really care. “It’s not your fault.” He said, ignoring the hoarse crackle to his voice.

“Evan, I couldn’t-”

“Jon.” He stopped him, a watery smile flickering over his face. Weak and weary, but still flashing his fond appreciation for his friend. “You couldn’t have done anything else. It’s all right. I’m fine now.” Jonathon gave him what could only be described as a dubious look and opened his mouth. But before he could speak, he quickly amended himself. “Okay, I know I don’t _look_ fine, but I am_._ Really.”

“…If you say so.” He concluded hesitantly, still not fully convinced. They went quiet for some time after that, simply holding onto each other and basking in the silent comfort that they brought each other. He could feel his hand moving up and down his back slowly, warm and gentle and so, so nice in a way he couldn’t quite explain. Maybe it was because of how… how _cold_ death was. The bone chilling ice he felt after coming back. The one that Jon could chase away with only a touch.

“Why would a helicopter attack us anyways?” He eventually spoke up again when Evan had finally stopped shaking and his tears had run dry. He ran his hands over his face again, trying his best to wipe away all evidence of his break down.

“Because it was _him_.” He answered. He knew he didn’t need to specify further for him to figure out who the ‘him’ was. It was pretty obvious. And by the way Delirious’ eyes rounded and his mouth dropped open, he knew he had gotten it.

“Oh shit. Really?” He blanched.

Evan nodded, sucking in a shaky breath in his effort to regain his composure. “I saw him. Before I…” He trailed off, picking at his remaining glove. Noticing the way Del started to grimace, he quickly continued. “But hey, I still managed to blow the fucker’s helicopter up.” A vicious, almost smug sort of triumph lit his eyes up. “So at least I took him down with me-”

He stopped.

Helicopter.

The man had had a helicopter.

He threw up his map, gaze flickering over the familiar streets, an idea forming in his mind when they found his target. One that was admittedly kinda absurd, but also… might actually work?

“Evan?” He snapped his attention back towards his friend, noticing the uneasy look he was giving him. “You’ve got this kinda… kinda crazy look in your eyes.”

“I’ve got an idea.”

“Like a… Like a good idea? Or like a really crazy, kinda dumb idea?” He continued hesitantly.

A grin flashed across his face, something relieved and amused at the same time. “Can’t it be both?”

“Yeah, yeah, okay.” Del sighed, the sound half-hearted at best. More like he was trying not to smile than anything else.

He pushed himself up to his feet, legs stiff and vision blurry from standing up too quickly. But Del kept his hand on his arm, keeping him from swaying or-god forbid-falling entirely. He blinked the spots from his eyes, giving his friend a grateful look for the support when his sight cleared up again.

“You sure you’re good enough to walk?” Del asked uncertainly.

“Yeah, I’m good. Let’s just get back to the others.”

-

“Evan! Holy shit, are you okay?” Tyler practically ambushed them the moment they stepped through the door, eyes wide and something dark smudged across his cheeks. Probably ash.

“I’m all right.” He told him, patting his shoulder reassuringly as he walked past him. He could see Delirious glance at him, giving him an unconvinced look, but he ignored it. Del sighed silently, his mask materialising in his hand.

“You sure? That was one hell of a fall, man.”

“I’m fine. Really.” He could see Jonathon putting his mask back out of the corner of his eye but didn’t focus on it too much. Instead looked around slowly, grimacing at the chaos his once pristine apartment was in. Every window had been shattered and the furniture lay scattered and wrecked around the lounge. The floors and walls were scorched and in one section, there was actually a gaping hole that led to the floor below them. But he tried his best not to pay all too much attention to that fact. As long as they all avoided that area, it shouldn’t matter. He slowly traced his eyes around, counting silently who was around. Nogla was busy wrapping a bandage around Lui’s arm while Marcel hovered around them, the three conversing quietly. Ohm and Cartoonz sat pressed against each other by the wall, both of them silent. But who he _didn’t_ see was Brock and Brian. “Is everyone here?”

“Well yeah. Brian came back before you guys did. He and Brock are upstairs.” Tyler answered, sounding almost confused.

“Great. Call them down for me, would you?”

Wildcat gave him a curious look but left without saying another word.

The others looked up when they finally noticed him and an array of emotions greeted him, from concern to relief to weariness. He noticed Tyler leading Brock and Brian down the staircase, the latter looking worse for wear than he had before the attack. Then again, it was probably because the guy had just died for the first time.

He waited patiently for everyone to settle down again, not bothering to sit. Then again, it wasn’t like he had all too much choice, seeing as majority of his furniture had been close to destroyed. Del stayed by his side as well, arms folded over his chest and fingers entwined in the strings of his hoodie.

“I have a plan.” He finally spoke up. “It’s kind of insane-and _very_ risky, but it just might work.” Seeing no objections, he continued. “We need to steal a plane from the Military Base.”

“Wait, what?”

“Evan, what the hell-”

“Are you crazy?!”

“Oh, come on…”

“You’re kidding right?”

“Okay, that’s enough!” He snapped as he looked around, quieting them all quickly enough. “I know it sounds crazy, and I know it’s extremely dangerous, but it might be our best bet right now.” No one spoke again, but he could see doubtful looks being traded. “Look, we need a way out of the city, and the best way to do that is if we fly. You guys know what happened when we drove here, and that was just barely a ten-minute-long journey.”

“He’s… got a point, guys.” Lui added eventually, letting out a long sigh.

“You do know we’re probably gonna die before we even get close to a plane, don’t you?” Brian asked, grimacing visibly.

“It _is _a military base, after all.” Nogla agreed. Lui jabbed him in his side sharply, probably glaring at the Irishman from beneath his mask. He had the good sense to look sheepish after that though.

“Evan, are you sure about this?” Brock questioned, eyebrows creased together and worry shining on his face. He had a small scratch beneath one of his eyes, but he didn’t seem to care about it too much. “You know the risks that we’d have to face. Are you sure this is the best thing to do?” He didn’t seem hesitant or unconvinced like some of the others did; only serious.

Evan nodded firmly. And for once, he was convinced about what he had to do, however suicidal it may seem. Call it intuition if you will. “I’m sure.”

That was all Brock seemed to need. “All right then. I’m in.” Brian sent him an incredulous, wide-eyed look, causing him to roll his eyes visibly behind his sunglasses. “Oh, come on, guys. Evan knows what he’s talking about. Are you really just gonna sit here and do nothing instead?”

“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I don’t want to die. _Again_.” Marcel argued tiredly.

“Yeah? Well if you stay, you’re almost guaranteed to die anyway.” Tyler finally spoke up, arching an eyebrow. “That psycho is out there still, and he knows where we are. So why not do something crazy? It’s sure as hell better than sitting on our asses.”

Luke sighed heavily, shaking his head slowly. “Well… They’re not wrong.”

Vanoss watched them trade looks with each other, some of them hesitant and others only resigned. “Look, anyone who doesn’t want to do this doesn’t have to.” Evan said, folding his arms over his chest. “I’m going to leave now. If anyone else wants to join me, feel free. If anyone doesn’t: Find your own way out of the city. But I’m not waiting around in this place any longer.”


	5. By the grace of the fire and the flames

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gift thee an update for Christmas.  
But yeah, Merry Christmas, everyone. This is my present to you all, lmao. <3

“So what exactly is our plan?” Tyler asked, his gun in his hands and his mask hiding his face again.

“Uhhh… Get in, get out, don’t die?” Evan shrugged, materialising his own mask in his hand.

He could see Marcel roll his eyes at that. “Inspirational, Evan. Truly inspirational.”

“Okay, okay.” He huffed, casting his eyes around slowly. “Marcel, Lui and… Ohm, get somewhere far away or high up. You guys can snipe. Watch our backs. Brock, Cartoonz, Del, you three take care of any stragglers and make sure any reinforcements don’t reach us. Just protect us until we’re ready to fly. The rest of us will go after the planes directly. Does that sound fine?” A small murmuring of agreements and nods met his question. “Great. Then let’s go.” Seeing how easily they all complied with him, he was struck with the thought that, oh my god, he’s the _leader_, isn’t he? How the hell had he even managed to fall into that role? And _him_ of all people too?

Not wanting to linger on that disturbing thought any longer, he turned away from them and pulled the mask over his head, hearing shuffling from behind him as they all got ready. When he looked again, Lui, Marcel and Ohm were gone.

Summoning one of his guns, he peaked his head out from behind the building they were using as cover. He counted silently, tracing his eyes over the area in his attempt to see how many guards there were. “Sixteen.” He murmured. He knew that there were definitely more that he couldn’t see though, not to mention any reinforcements that they might be able to call. “Silencers on.” He told the others, making sure his own gun had one on too. Because even though he knew they were going to end up going in guns blazing, they could at least _try_ stealth first. “Okay, let’s go. Stay low and stay quiet.”

“Stay… _low_.” Tyler echoed him, dragging the words out dramatically. That caused a smattering of stifled laughter to break out from behind him, a smile flickering across his own face at it. Not that anyone would be able to see it from beneath his mask.

He slipped out from around the corner, keeping an eye on the guard that stood with his back towards them from across the road. Keeping his footsteps as light and quiet as he could, he moved along the edge of the building, glancing over his shoulder to see who was behind him. Terroriser stared back at him, expression solemn and lips tight.

He sent a pointed look towards the guard, then back at Brian. He frowned for a second, confused. But when he followed his second look, he seemed to understand. He broke away from the others and crept towards the NPC, a knife replacing the gun in his hand.

Vanoss continued forward, hoping the Irishman would have it under control. He stopped at the edge of the building, tensing when he heard footsteps approaching. He quickly switched to a knife, flattening himself against the wall. He could feel his heart jump up into his mouth.

A guard stepped into his field of vision and time slowed down. He leapt at the NPC, jabbing the knife into his exposed neck as hard as he could.

Time sped up again. He slammed his hand over the man’s mouth before he could cry out for help, keeping it there until nothing but muffled gurgles came out from between his fingers. Withdrawing the knife, he stabbed him a second time, putting as much force into it as he possibly could. He slumped back into Evan’s arms, forcing him to a step back to keep himself from falling, a hiss of air rushing out of his mouth. He was a lot heavier than he had expected.

He lowered him to the ground slowly, only letting go of him when he had fallen both still and silent. He yanked the knife out and absentmindedly wiped the blade on his pants, not caring if it was going to stain them with his blood. He looked over to look at Brian, relieved when he realized things had gone just as smoothly and the guard lay unmoving at his feet.

“Damn.” He looked further back, embarrassment pricking at him when he caught Delirious staring, eyes wide behind his hockey mask and something he couldn’t identify flashing through them. Something warm. Something that made him feel the ridiculous urge to squirm.

“What?” He practically demanded, trying to ignore the fact that for some reason he was feeling flustered.

“Nothing, nothing.” Jon shook his head and held his hands up in surrender. “That was just… Y’know, _really_ smooth.”

Vanoss was glad that he was wearing his mask, otherwise he probably would’ve seen his face go as red as a tomato. And dear lord that would’ve been mortifying for him. “Let’s carry on.” He said as a response, not knowing what else to say to that.

He stepped out from the corner, recoiling when he came face to with a guard. The man immediately brought his gun up to aim it at him.

Oh sh-

The sound of a gun going off made him jump. But to his immense surprise-and relief-it hadn’t come from the barrel of the rifle pointed straight at him. Instead the man in front of him keeled over, gun clattering from his hands and onto the ground.

Evan looked towards where the shot had come from, a smile softening his face when he saw Lui saluting to him from the top of a nearby building. It was comforting to know that they had people watching their backs.

That feeling was thrown right out of the window when a shout rang out though, followed by an outrageous amount of gunfire.

“Fuck, run!” He darted into the hangar, hurriedly scrolling through his weapon wheel to replace his knife with something that he could actually use. His stomach sank at the sight of all the NPC’s swarming around and he had to duck behind a stack of crates to avoid the honestly insane amount of gunfire that rained down on him. So definitely more than sixteen guards… Great.

Wildcat, having followed him in, crouched down next to him, breathing hard. “Holy fucking shit this is intense.”

Evan couldn’t help a grin from breaking out across his face at that. “Regret not backing out yet, dipshit?”

“Oh, you wish, pussy. This is just a regular Sunday for me!”

“The fuck kind of weekends do you have?”

Tyler tipped back his head and laughed; a bit of a bizarre thing to see really, what with that mask of his.

Glad to have chosen a grenade instead of a gun for now, he pulled the pin from the explosive in his hand and threw it as hard as he possibly could over the top of the crates. A few seconds later and it exploded again. By then he was already tossing back a second and a third one.

“Jesus Christ.” He gave Tyler a confused look at his exclamation. “You really _do_ like explosives, don’t you?”

Vanoss shrugged, throwing a fourth one when two more explosions rocked through the building in quick succession, then switched to an actual gun. While the enemies were busy, he quickly moved his gaze around the hangar. Just outside was some kind of armoured helicopter, but inside there was what appeared to be a private jet.

He stopped. Which one would be better? While the helicopter might’ve offered them more protection, he knew that it would be the slower of the two. The jet on the other hand would probably be quicker in the air, but it probably wasn’t as armoured. Speed or safety?

He could see Tyler shooting at someone from over the crate and that snapped out of his reverie, jumping to his feet again and sending a burst of fire at the nearest NPC he saw. The man went down and he switched his aim towards another one. Evan was just glad that they seemed to be terrible shots, seeing as-so far, at least-none of them have even come close to hitting either of them.

Small blessings.

“So what next, oh wise leader?” Tyler asked over the noise of guns and explosions coming from somewhere behind them.

“Oh fuck off.” He huffed back in response, turning around to shoot down an enemy that had attempted to come around the side to get to them. The numbers were slowly thinning out and he could see Nogla and Brian entering the hangar as well now that they weren’t being pinned down. The others seemed to be doing their assigned jobs well and keeping the reinforcements at bay.

Now that he had a second to breath, he glanced back towards the jet again. Speed or safety?

“Guys, we’ve gotta hurry up! More of them keep spawning in.” Nogla called-or rather, _screeched_ as he reloaded his shotgun. “Brock, Delirious and Cartoonz are struggling out there!”

_‘Moo_Snuckel died.’_

“Make that just Delirious and Cartoonz!”

“Brock!” Brian cried out; voice high with his distress.

“Shit.” Tyler cleared out the last of the guards in the hangar and Evan took that as his chance to run towards the jet. “Wildcat, Terroriser, Nogla, on me!” He shouted, catching their attention. He guessed luck was on his side, because the jet’s door hung open, seemingly just for him.

“Aren’t we going after a helicopter?” Nogla asked, but still followed him nonetheless.

“This will be quicker.” He brushed him off, climbing inside. The interior was weirdly fancy, but he ignored that fact and just rushed to the cockpit. He slid into the seat…

And promptly froze.

He didn’t know how to fly a plane.

Holy crap what was he thinking?

_‘LuiCalibre died.’_ Ah shit. He thought that he, Ohm and Marcel would’ve been fine sniping, but apparently not.

He hesitantly placed his hands on the joysticks, frowning. This… This couldn’t be too difficult, right? He just had to… Press some buttons and hope?

Yeah, okay, they were screwed.

“_Evan_!” A serious sense of Déjà vu hit him when he lifted his gaze only to see a rocket coming straight for him.

_Oh, come on._

He was aware of a blinding light and a wall of flames that engulfed him, followed by the excruciating pain of his flesh being burned off of his very bones, but then he was falling through the darkness of death. Almost infuriatingly cold compared to the heat that he had just died in.

He respawned relatively near the military base again, judging by the faint sound of gunfire. His skin felt tingly and hot, almost like he had a fever. But he knew it was just the aftereffects of dying.

Well, that was an odd thought without context.

_‘_Vanoss_ killed DAITHIDENOGLA.’_

_‘_Vanoss_ killed TheTerroriser.’_

_‘_Vanoss_ killed I_AM_WILDCAT.’_

…Woops?

“Evan!” He looked over his shoulder, seeing a frowning Nogla approaching him.

“You okay?” He asked, not knowing whether or not the guy was going to be mad at him about… well, leading him to his death. And a painful one at that.

“Yeah, I guess.” He shrugged, looking almost uncertain. “So… What happened back there?”

Vanoss sighed. “I don’t know how to fly a plane.”

“And you didn’t think of that before we came here?” He asked incredulously.

“Hey, I was occupied! I thought I would just learn on the job!”

“Shut the fuck up, you cunts. Let’s get back to the others.” Brian interrupted the two of them, already holding a gun and a grim look on his face.

-

They found the others all scattered around, very clearly being overwhelmed by the sheer number of NPC’s that just kept popping up. Tyler had already made it back and stood with Brock and Lui, hiding in one of the many buildings in the base. Ohm and Marcel were still nowhere to be seen, but occasionally he would see a random guard fall without any visible cause and he knew it was one of them.

Del and Toonz stood back to back with each other, gunning down anyone who approached them; as always, a great duo.

He and the two Irishmen slowly cleared out a pathway to the others, mowing through the lines of guards with a macabre sort of determination.

It was weird how easy killing had become. And by weird he meant fucking worrying. He hoped it was only because of the fact that he knew these were NPC’s. They weren’t real people.

He really, _really_ hoped that was the case.

Otherwise he was on the way to becoming a full-blown psychopath.

Yeah, he definitely hoped not.

They made their way towards Tyler and the others first, seeing as they were closer than Jon and Cartoonz were.

“So you guys finally made it to the party.” Tyler called to them dryly when he spotted them approaching, reloading his rifle. “Fucking finally, man.”

“Yeah, yeah, shut up.” He heard Nogla huff from somewhere close behind him.

“So what’s Plan B, Vanoss?” Brock asked distractedly, keeping an eye out and occasionally shooting at NPC’s that the others had missed.

“Plan B is we go back to Plan A.” He said simply, switching out his shotgun with a rifle now that the enemies near them had been cleared out. Noticing the confused looks the others gave him, he continued, “I jumped the gun going after the jet without asking anyone and we died because of it. Because of _me_. I think I was right the first time around: A helicopter is the best option.”

“Well then let’s get to it before someone else dies.” Tyler said.

“Right. Let’s start clearing out a path to the hangar. We’ll signal to Ohm and Basically when we’re ready.”

On his command, they spread out from the building and started to mow down any NPC that they could see.

“Delirious, Cartoonz!” He shouted over the near deafening noises of gunfire and explosions. When he noticed that he had Jon’s attention, he waved them over, taking a break from shooting for a moment to do so. “Let’s go!”

Hoping that they would follow him when they got the chance, he made a break for it. Tyler was already climbing into the armoured helicopter by the time he got there, clearly going to try and figure out how exactly to fly it.

“Buy me some time.” Tyler told him as he slipped into the pilots seat, looking over the controls hurriedly.

“Got it.” He nodded once and turned around again, bringing up his gun to kill a guy barely seconds before he shot a rocket towards them. Again, he could only feel grateful for the fact that these guys had the accuracy of a squad of Stormtroopers. Otherwise they definitely wouldn’t have been able to make it this far. “Protect the helicopter at all costs! We need to buy Wildcat more time!” He shouted to the others. Without any protest, he could see the others taking positions around the helicopter, forming a protective ring around the vehicle.

Evan took a moment to scout the buildings, searching for either Marcel, or Ryan. Thankfully he quickly spotted a glint of metal shining in the light somewhere on the roof of a building to his right. He waved at the person, silently calling for them to regroup. Assuming that this was one of his own, after all. The person, Ohm as he identified when he stood up, seemed to understand what he wanted, and disappeared from sight seconds later. Marcel also appeared from the same roof and followed Ohm, disappearing from sight too.

Perfect, now he doesn’t have to worry about looking for them.

He glanced up momentarily when a faint whirring sound appeared, relief washing over him when he noticed that the rotors were slowly starting up from above them.

“I think I’ve got it!” Came Tyler’s voice faintly.

“Everyone get inside!” Vanoss ordered, shooting down a guard that Brian had missed while he was reloading. He and Lui were closest and so climbed in first, followed by Brock, Nogla and Jon, who gave him a worried look when he himself didn’t make a move to get inside. Luke didn’t move either, anxiously looking around. Clearly searching for someone.

His attention caught on two familiar figures running towards them and he could see Cartoonz relax minutely at the sight of Ohm. The two of them provided cover for the two snipers as they hastily made their way over, protecting them from the few remaining NPC’s.

“Good job, you two.” He told them when they arrived, ushering Marcel into the helicopter first. “Are you guys all right?”

Ohm nodded. “Yeah, we’re both f-Luke watch out!” The masked gamer shoved him out of the way of a round of gunfire, causing Evan to automatically drop to a knee and return fire immediately.

Shit, they were respawning again. They really had to get going now.

“Ryan!”

His head snapped to the side and his stomach dropped when he saw Ohm lying limply in Luke’s arms, a very prominent bullet wound on his chest and blood slowly spreading out along his shirt.

“Shit.” He breathed out. “Get him in the helicopter, quickly.” He told Luke, switching his rifle out for something a bit bigger. Okay, a lot bigger. He let loose a torrent of covering fire, very nearly staggering at the huge knockback the minigun had. Once he could see that they were both in the helicopter, he discarded the weapon and jumped in himself, ducking his head at the sound of gunshots coming after him. “Go, go, go!” He shouted desperately to Tyler when Brock and Lui slammed the door shut after him, who immediately nodded and complied.

The aircraft suddenly lifted up, the ascent all too jerky and bumpy to be comfortable. But hey, at least they were going somewhere. He stumbled when it tilted to the side precariously, grabbing onto the nearest handle he could to prevent himself from falling over entirely.

He could hear the loud buzz of the rotors and the faint sound of gunfire, but other than that, it was silent in the helicopter. Stiflingly so.

Everyone remained quiet for quite a while after that as they listened to the gunfire fade away entirely, all a bit too shell shocked to _want_ to talk.

Until Tyler whooped at the top of his lungs and yelled, “_Fuck yeah_! We did it, boys! We stole a fucking helicopter!”

A smattering of relieved laughter followed the loud exclamation and everyone seemed to collectively release the breath they’d been holding in. A loud chatter started up after that and Evan made his way over to where Luke sat with Ryan. The masked gamer was propped up against the wall, chest rising and falling unevenly, and his blood spread out across his shirt even more than the last time he’d seen it.

He knelt next to them, pulling his mask off and letting it disappear into his inventory bar. Ohm’s eyes slowly darted over to him and a tight smile flickered into existence on his face. “Tell me how bad it is, doc.” He joked, voice hitching ever so slightly when he breathed in too deeply. “Toonzy doesn’t want to tell me.” He could hear the others quieting down and sobering up again when he spoke, only remembering that they had someone injured now, seeing that the adrenaline of their victory was steadily fading.

He met Luke’s gaze after studying the worrying amount of blood on his torso, noticing the way his eyes shone with a sheen of something that was probably tears. “It’s… It’s not good, man.” He admitted hesitantly, looking down at Ohm again. He didn’t think he would appreciate being lied to right now. A frown tugged at his brows.

“Ah.” He sighed, grimacing ever so slightly with his pain. “Thought so.”

“You-We can help you. We can stop the bleeding, or-or we can try to stitch it up or something-” Luke started to ramble, clutching onto him tightly.

“Toonzy, it’s okay.” He pressed a hand against his mouth barely a moment before he delved into a coughing fit that wracked his whole body.

“It’s-You’re _not_ okay!” He protested, looking more and more hysterical with every passing second, especially at the sight of a splatter of red than lay on his palm when he drew his hand away again.

“Hey, hey, look at me.” Ohm rasped, voice sounding wet. “I’ll be fine. I just need to die first.”

“Ohm!” Luke gave his boyfriend what could only be described as scandalised.

“What? It’s true. I’m dying, we all know it. We don’t have the supplies to keep me going. It’ll be easier if one of you just killed me at this point.”

Everyone went silent at that; stunned at how nonchalant he sounded.

“Ohm, that’s not something to take… Well, lightly. Take it from a guy who’s already been mercy killed by Lui. It’s not fun.” Brock spoke up from where he sat. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Lui nodding his agreement solemnly.

“Exactly!” Luke agreed hurriedly. “We’ll find some supplies soon, you’re gonna be fine.”

“Cartoonz-” Brian tried carefully.

“I don’t want to hear it, Brian.” Luke scowled, turning his gaze onto the Irishman.

“I’m just saying-” 

“Well don’t. He’s going to be fine.” He said adamantly.

Ohmwrecker sighed slowly, moving his head to face Evan now. “Make sure he doesn’t stop me, will you?”

A frown furrowed at his brows. Doesn’t stop him? A glint of metal caught his eyes, a handgun appearing in Ohm’s hand from out of thin air. A moment later it clicked in his mind.

Oh.

Oh hell.

“You sure, man?” He asked quietly, not wanting to draw attention to them, eyes flickering warily up to see that Luke was still arguing with the others. Still heavily in denial.

“Yeah. I’ll be fine, Evan.”

Seeing the determined look on his face, he knew that he wasn’t going be able to talk him out of it.

Evan cleared his throat. “Luke.” He got his attention almost immediately, stomach sinking when he saw the distress in his eyes.

“_What_, Evan?” He demanded. Then his gaze dropped onto the weapon in Ohm’s hand and his eyes went wide. “Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding-”

“Luke, no!” Evan lunged forward and grabbed onto him right before he could snatch the gun from Ohm, wrapping his arms around his chest to hold him back. He caught the surprised look that shifted into one of betrayal barely a second later, almost infuriatedly so, thrown at him from over his shoulder.

Then he was struggling against him violently.

He jerked his elbow back into Evan’s stomach and his legs scrabbled desperately against the floor as he tried to escape his grasp. A sharp exhale escaped him at the sharp pain, but he refused to let go of him, only tightening his grip. Evan may not have been as big as Luke was, but playing sports for so long had made sure that he wasn’t exactly weak either.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw the others startling at the sudden scuffle, one or two of them rising to their feet uncertainly, as if unsure on whether they should step in or not.

“Hey, what’s going on back there?” Tyler called from the pilot’s seat.

They both flinched when a deafening shot went off, followed by the sound of a gun clattering onto the metal floor of the helicopter.

Luke froze when he realised what had happened, horror making his face go ashen. “Ryan!” He lurched forward, and this time Evan let him go, arms dropping to his sides again. He got to his feet slowly, guilt welling up inside him at the sight of him cradling Ohm’s limp body, blood dripping from a new wound on his head.

_‘Ohmwrecker has chosen the easy way out.’_

The world around them flickered, lights and colours flashing across his vision like the very game was glitching out. Barely a second later though, it was gone again, along with Ohm’s body. Everyone was quiet for a few tense moments after that, before he felt someone slam into him and throw him against the wall of the helicopter.

“What the_ fuck_ did you just do?!” Luke roared, almost face to face with him at this point and his arm pressed against his throat, edging towards cutting off his oxygen supply entirely.

Vanoss spluttered, trying to shove the other man off of him, but he didn’t budge. He could feel pressure building up behind his eyes. He saw the others springing to their feet, protesting shouts rising from their throats.

“Evan!”

“Luke, let him go-”

“Don’t do anything stupid, man.”

“Hey, calm the fuck down back there!”

“Toonzy, don’t do this-”

“Stand down!” Vanoss barked, ignoring Luke entirely for now to instead scowl over his shoulder and at the others who looked ready to jump to his aid. He could feel Luke’s glare burning into his face.

They all went quiet one by one; stunned by his outburst.

“Evan, are you sure?” Brock finally spoke up anxiously, breaking the thick silence for them.

“Stand. Down.” He repeated himself firmly. There was an almost tangible sense of uncertainty that hung over them, none of them knowing what to do. He could practically taste it in the air.

But then the arm on his throat was pressing down further, drawing out a strangled noise unintentionally from him and successfully gaining his attention again.

“Luke, listen to me.” Despite his voice croaking and sounding breathy even in his own ears, he was surprised at how calmly his words came out. “I didn’t do anything; it was Ohm’s choice.” Seeing him open his mouth to retaliate, he quickly continued. “He was in pain and we had nothing here to help him with. This was the best thing for him, as horrible as it is.” Luke’s expression didn’t change, still twisted into a scowl that was honestly rather intimidating. He refused to let it show though, and he only lifted his chin up slightly, almost in defiance of his inner turmoil. “Think about what Ryan wanted, Luke.”

The hold on him loosened fractionally at that. And before he knew it, the pressure on his neck was gone entirely and Cartoonz was stalking away from him without uttering a single word.

He let out a shaky exhale, hand automatically moving up to massage his neck. He knew it was going to leave a bruise soon.

“Delirious, call Ohm and see where he is so we can pick him up.” He told the masked man, straightening his jacket in his effort to regain some composure. He definitely didn’t miss how hoarse his voice sounded, and by the looks of it, the others didn’t either.

Ignoring the concerned looks though, he walked towards Tyler in the pilot seat. “Can you land this thing?” He asked him, having to press a hand against the nearest wall to keep his balance when the helicopter shifted a little too far to the side.

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, man.”

-

By the time Tyler had managed to scout a place that looked both abandoned and safe enough for them, the sun had already set, and darkness had fallen over the world. They had picked Ryan up not long ago who, despite being a bit shaken up, was fine, and had assured Luke that multiple times already.

It was colder than Evan had thought it would be when he stepped out of the helicopter, the wind icy and strong. The building that Tyler had chosen for them was a large cabin seemingly in the middle of nowhere, the walls and roof made of wood and no lights on inside. Which, all in all, was a pretty good sign for them.

Not waiting for the others to follow him, Evan walked towards the cabin, tucking his hands in his pockets to protect them from the cold. There was a thick carpet of dust and dirt that littered the wooden floor of the porch; another good sign. It meant that there probably wasn’t anyone living there. Did NPC’s even clean their houses? He had no idea, but he decided not to linger on that thought for all too long. The sound of the helicopter became increasingly quieter and by now he could hear faint footsteps coming from behind him. Presumably the others.

Trying his luck, he went for the front door first, testing to see if it was unlocked. The handle jiggled in his hand and he sighed, glancing over his shoulder to look at Del. “We’re gonna have to break in.”

“Say no more, boss.” He gave him a thumbs up, very clearly grinning beneath his mask.

“Boss?” He echoed, a brow arching curiously.

Jon just gave him a wink-one thing he _could_ see with his mask on-and a baseball bat flickered to existence in his hands. He promptly swung it at the nearest window which shattered on impact, sending shards of glass flying.

“Jesus Christ, man. A little aggressive, are we?” Brian asked, eyeing the wreck that was the window.

“Shuch up.” Del climbed through the window easily, seeming to not care that there was still broken glass that could hurt him. A moment later the door in front of him unlocked with a quiet _click_ and it swung open, revealing a clearly proud Jonathon.

“Good job.” Evan patted his shoulder as he walked past, not bothering to hide his amused smile. That only seemed to make Del smugger. He was practically preening at this point. He could see it even with his mask on.

He flicked the light switch on, bathing the room in a soft light. Well at least the lights worked.

Now that he could actually see, he looked around slowly, taking in the interior of the house. It looked like this was the living room. It had very clearly not been lived in for quite some time. Cobwebs decorated every corner and there was dust on almost every single object. The wood in the fireplace looked rotten and the floorboards creaked loudly with every step that he took.

“Well… This looks good enough for us to stay the night in.” He eventually spoke up again, turning to look at the others. “A bit dirty, but it’ll do fine.”

Jon walked back into the room again and-wait, when had he left? Evan hadn’t even noticed that he had disappeared for a minute or two. Too lost in studying the room.

“I counted four rooms, each one with a double bed.” He told them; the bat gone from his hands once more.

“So we’re gonna have to share.” Lui pointed out.

“That’s… Perfect, actually.” Brock spoke up. “I mean, we should probably have guard shifts, right? Then two people can keep watch at a time and two people can stay in a room. As long as everyone is okay with sharing a bed.”

It took him moment longer for him to realise that, again, the other were looking at him for confirmation. “Yeah, that’s a really good idea, Brock.” Evan agreed after a brief moment of thought. “We can each take two hour shifts then switch out.”

“I don’t mind taking the first shift.” Tyler volunteered with a shrug, folding his arms over his chest. He hadn’t taken his mask off just yet.

“I’ll take it with you.” Marcel said.

“Okay, then who’s going to be sharing rooms?” Luke asked from his place next to Ohm. The taller man hadn’t seemed to leave his side since they had picked him up again.

“Brian and I can share.” Brock offered, sharing a quick smile with his boyfriend.

“Luke and I can too.” Ryan agreed.

“Okay, are you two okay with rooming together?” He asked Lui and Nogla, knowing that those two were likely better friends than either of them was with the remaining two people-him and Jon.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Lui shrugged while Nogla nodded, stealing a quick glance at him.

“I guess that leaves us left.” He told Jon, who was busy bouncing on the balls his feet like he had too much energy. Which he found frankly ridiculous.

He was a bone-weary tired and aching for some sleep while Jon looked ready to run a marathon. Unfair.

“Sounds good.”

“You guys can wake us up for the next shift.” Vanoss told them, knowing that Del would be okay with that. Or rather, _hoping_ that he was. But he didn’t protest at it, so he assumed that he was.

Nogla clapped his hands together once, catching their attention. “Well, now that that’s out of the way, I’m gonna go sleep. Wake me up when it’s my turn.” He said. He promptly turned around and walked away, disappearing into one of the bedrooms without further ado.

“Guess I should be going too. Goodnight, guys.” Lui flashed them a half-amused, half-apologetic smile, before following after Nogla.

“Yeah, we should also go start our watch soon.” Marcel pointed out with a loud, mournful sigh.

“Hey, you volunteered to take the first shift.” Tyler jabbed him in the side with his elbow, causing the other male to squawk indignantly and swipe a hand at his head in retaliation.

Evan could feel his eyes hanging heavy and his concentration wavering, clearly more tired than he had anticipated he would be.

Not wanting to look rude, he turned his head away and quickly rubbed his eyes, fighting to keep himself from yawning. He wasn’t as discrete as he had hoped to be though, seeing as Jon was there in an instant, steering him away from the others by the shoulder without any explanation.

None was needed though, he understood what he was doing. He found that he didn’t mind it all too much anyway. It’s not like he was needed anymore. And besides, he was getting drowsy. He probably wouldn’t have even been able to keep a conversation going for much longer.

“We’re tired. See y’all in the morning.” Was Del’s only explanation. It still got a murmur of goodbyes from the others though. “Sorry, you seemed-you looked kinda tired.” He eventually spoke up again, voice quieter than it had previously been.

A grateful, almost affectionate smile flickered to life across his face. That was… really sweet, actually. Or maybe he was just so tired that he thought so. “Thanks.”

He flicked the light on as they entered. The bedroom was average size at best, with curtains that smelled of mothballs and an old cupboard that was missing a door. There wasn’t even any other furniture or a TV in it; just a large, dusty bed and two bedside tables. But that was just fine with him. He needed a place to sleep and nothing else.

A wave of exhaustion washing over him at the notion of sleep, finally allowing a yawn to stretch his jaws wide.

“You’re fine with sharing a bed, right?” He eventually asked, the thought having not even registering in his mind before now. If he wasn’t, Evan would just have to find somewhere else to sleep. Maybe on one of the couches. After all, he didn’t want Jon to feel uncomfortable.

“Oh, uhm, yeah. Yeah, no, I’m fine with that.”

He nodded, slipping off his jacket and putting it on the bedside table, followed by his shoes. He could see Del doing the same in his peripheral view. He slipped under the covers, his whole body relaxing at the feeling of just being on a bed. It’s been a long day, okay? Even this old, creaky bed felt like heaven to him. Just before the other got into bed with him though, he walked back towards the door again.

He reached over and switched off the light for them, casting the room in shadows. Light still came in through the open door, so he pulled it closed with a low creak.

When Del came back to the bed again and slipped under as well, he noticed something. Even in the darkness.

“Are you gonna keep your mask on while you sleep?” He asked, looking at him curiously.

He went still, then pulled his mask off, setting it down on his bedside table carefully. “I, uhh… I didn’t even notice I was still wearing it.” He admitted with an almost sheepish grin.

With a breathy chuckle he burrowed back further into the covers, Jon doing the same beside him. A sigh of content left his lips as he _finally_ allowed himself to relax properly. His eyes slid shut almost immediately. The bed was big enough that the two of them were relatively close to each other, but not close enough to be touching. Which was probably good, seeing as he tended to move around a lot in his sleep. Or at least, that was what people had told him.

“What a day.”

“You can say that again.” Jon agreed readily, shifting to get more comfortable.

He felt almost like he was sinking right into the mattress. Not because it was old and the springs were broken, but rather because he was just so exhausted that even the hard, cold ground would’ve felt as soft as feathers beneath his leaden body.

He pulled the covers up over his shoulders when a particularly cold gust of wind came whistling through the room, likely from a window that was too old to keep all of the elements out properly.

They were quiet for a while after that, the only sound he could hear being the loud wailing of the wind outside and the faint breathing coming from his side. He could slowly feel himself drifting off, too tired to do anything but, when he heard a quiet whisper of,

“Hey.”

He forced himself to come back again and pry his eyes open, as heavy as they were. He turned his head to the side, sleepily meeting Jon’s eyes in the darkness. Despite it being relatively difficult to see, he _could_ see the slight frown creasing at his brows. He watched as he turned onto his side to face him, rustling the blankets to get comfortable.

“Do you…” He started off hesitantly, voice quiet enough that he would probably be unable to hear him if he wasn’t right next to him. He swallowed thickly. “Do you… Do you think we’re ever gonna get out of… of _this_?”

Evan rolled over and onto his side to look at him properly, completely roused from his previously half-asleep state. Still extremely sleepy, yes. But not moments away from falling asleep entirely. For now at least.

“Of course we are.” He answered him confidently, matching the quiet volume of his voice. They probably didn’t have to be so quiet, seeing as he was sure the others wouldn’t be able to hear them anyway. But both were too tired to want to be louder. Or care.

“How do you know?” He asked after a moment, doubt creeping into his voice.

“Because I know us. We may be the biggest group of dumbasses in the world,” A quiet huff of laughter breathed out from Jon at that. “But we can get through anything together. We just have to keep believing, okay?” He could see his expression softening in his silent relief as he spoke. “We’ll find a way out. No matter what.”

“…promise?” Came the quiet, almost timid reply. Unsure in a way that he had never known Jonathon to be. His eyes searched his, shining in the darkness in a way that very nearly took his breath away and made his heart pang with something he couldn’t quite identify.

“I promise.” He gave him a gentle, fond smile. To his tired delight, he saw a matching smile flicker across his face as well.

They both went silent again and he watched as Jon closed his eyes again, looking a lot more… at peace now. Seeing as their conversation was over, he decided to do the same.

Barely a moment later he felt fingers tentatively brushing against his, hesitant and uncertain. Without needing even a second to think about it, he slipped his hand into his. He could _feel_ Jon relax when he did. Reassured by the simple touch.

With their fingers intertwined and his friend by his side, that was good enough for Evan to not want to move again all night.

And that’s how they remained for quite some time, simply comforted by the presence and the touch of each other.

He didn’t know how long had passed, and it was when he was on the brink of falling fast asleep again that he heard Jon’s voice speak up. Deeper than usual with his sleepiness and rather faint in Evan’s ears, likely because of how gone his mind was, but still there. It took a few moments for him to even register that he had called his name softly.

“Evan?”

It was just barely enough to rouse him. He couldn’t even manage to crack his eyes open. “Hmm?” He hummed sleepily-although it probably sounded a lot more like a groan. It was all he could do at this point.

There was silence again for quite some time after that. He almost thought that it had just been his imagination, but then there was an audible sigh that promised it wasn’t.

“…nevermind.”


	6. It's hard to breathe, but that's all right

All too soon, he was being shaken awake again roughly. He cracked his eyes open fractionally, before physically recoiling when he came face to face with the ugliest fucking pig mask in the world.

“Jesus.” He grumbled, tiredly swatting Tyler’s intrusive hands away and pulling the duvet up over his head. “Go away.”

“Nope, not Jesus. Just me. And uh-uh, get your dumb ass up, Evan. It’s your turn to go on watch.” The other male countered, not bothering to be anything near quiet. The bitch.

But despite how foggy his mind was, he did manage to grasp onto his words. Although not all too quickly.

Oh. Right. The shifts.

God, why had he volunteered to go right after Tyler and Marcel? He seriously regretted it now.

“Come on, love birds. I’m tired.” Tyler complained, shaking him violently again when he didn’t respond or move.

Love birds?

“Okay, okay, I’m getting up.” He groaned, forcing himself to sit up. He had to carefully untangle his legs from Jonathon’s to do so-wait, when had they gotten that close to each other?

He rubbed his eyes of their sleep, body shrieking its protest at him not remaining in bed like it was practically begging him to. He shivered when he left the warm confines of the duvet, already mourning the loss of heat.

Tyler snorted, clearly catching him doing so. “Yeah, it’s fucking cold out there. Marcel and I pretty much just hid in blankets the whole time. We left them out there for you guys.”

“Thanks.” He mumbled, slowly getting out of the bed entirely. He immediately pulled his jacket back on again for some added warmth. He ran his fingers through his hair a few times to at least try to tame it from his bedhead.

“Don’t forget to wake Del up.” He pointed out, pulling off his helmet as he spoke and making it disappear. Followed by that hideous mask of his.

“I won’t.” He huffed, slipping on his shoes. He moved around the bed, stifling a yawn behind his hand, and shifted his gaze onto his still sleeping friend.

Jonathon had slept through the loud intrusion from their friend, unbothered and not having even stirred. He had no idea how, but props to him. He looked so… so peaceful lying there. Soft in a way that made him feel warm despite the cold. Maybe it was because it was only _now_ that he could really focus on him. The _real_ him, not hidden by his mask or a screen. Just Jon. Open and gentle. He might even call it-

Someone cleared their throat, catching his attention. His eyes flicked up to see Tyler giving him an almost smug look.

“What?” He snapped back defensively, ignoring the way his face heated up at being caught staring.

“Nothing, nothing.” He held his hands up in surrender.

Sending him one last glare without any real heat behind it, he gently shook Jonathon by the shoulder. “Jon?” He called his name quietly. His friend stirred, a frown appearing on his face. But other than that, he didn’t move. “Come on, it’s time to wake up.” He pulled the covers down a bit, causing him to immediately shiver visibly and grasp for the blankets again blindly.

“Noooo…” He moaned, peeling his eyes open to squint at Evan. “It’s cold…”

“Too bad, you’ve gotta get up.” He pulled back the covers even further, having to duck when Jon swiped at him mutinously. Not unlike how he had reacted with Tyler not long ago, actually. He chuckled softly and stepped back, giving him some space as he slowly got up, shoulders hunched, and eyes still mostly closed.

“What time is it?” He mumbled, rubbing his face blearily.

Something struck him in that moment. Jon sitting in the bed they had shared, still drowsy, eyes heavy, and hair still mussed up from sleep. This was all so… So _domestic_. Domestic in that calm, easy way that he was definitely not used to.

He wasn’t used to it, but… But it wasn’t all too unwelcome either.

“Too early, that’s for sure.” Tyler answered for him, already perching on the other side of the bed. Jon made a small, noncommittal sound in response to that.

“Why are we up then?”

“It’s time for our shift, Jon.” He reached over and picked up the mask that lay on the bedside table. His gaze finally tore away from Jon’s lethargic form to instead focus on it. He turned it over in his hands absentmindedly while he let him wake up entirely. He barely even noticed when he started putting on his jacket and shoes sluggishly.

“Where’s Marcel?” He asked, glancing towards Tyler.

“He went to the bathroom. Should be back soon.” He shrugged.

He nodded his understanding, catching Jon’s eyes when he stood up. “You ready?”

“I guess.” He sighed loudly. They both glanced up when Marcel entered the room, looking just as tired as the two of them felt. Evan sent him a smile in greeting that he wearily returned.

“Here.” He passed Jon his mask before he forgot about it entirely.

“Oh, thanks.” He flashed him a quick, sleepy smile that came close to making his heart palpitate.

Domestic.

Jon slouched out of the room, mask hanging lazily in his grip.

“Well, goodnight, you two.” He saluted them half-heartedly with the wrong hand, following Jonathon out. “Have fun in _my_ warm bed.”

“I will.” Tyler called back cheerfully.

He gave Marcel a look. “Kick him off the bed for me, will you?”

Ignoring the quiet laugh and the exclamation of, “Hey!” he closed the door behind them.

The lights in the living room were still on and there was no one in sight. It was no wonder though, seeing as everyone had already gone to bed. Evan found himself envying them, though he knew this predicament was his own fault. He’d volunteered to take the next shift and so only sleep for an hour or so before getting up again. He had no one to blame but himself.

Besides, it was better him than the others. They needed their sleep. He just felt bad for dragging Jonathon into it too.

The house was quiet as they walked. Almost eerily so. No Tyler being loud. None of the others chatting in the living room anymore. No sign that there was any life here besides him and Jon. It probably would’ve even been a bit creepy if he had been alone.

As they walked, he reached out a hand automatically, smoothening down Jonathon’s hair without even thinking. It was only when he gave him a curious look that he realised what he had done.

“Oh, uh, sorry.” He apologised sheepishly. “I didn’t-”

“No, no, it’s… it’s fine.” He assured him with a slightly amused smile. One that was weirdly relieving to see.

He opened the door and stepped outside, immediately shuddering when the biting wind shoved against him. He zipped his jacket up and, although it didn’t protect him entirely from the wind, he knew that he would die of hypothermia without it.

Okay maybe a slight over exaggeration, but still. It _was_ pretty odd, though. He’d always thought that he was fine with the cold. _Thrived_ in it on most days. But not here and not now, apparently.

“Holy shit, it’s cold.” Jon swore when he stepped outside, wrapping his arms around himself in an attempt to fend off the cold.

He hummed his agreement, raking his eyes around slowly. The stars were out in all their full glory, sparkling and twinkling in the night sky. The lengthy, dusty road that led to the house lay empty and barren, just as it had been when they got there. The helicopter remained in its place towards the side of the house. The tall, spindly trees swayed ever so slightly in the strong wind in the woods behind. The whole area was just desolate and isolated from civilisation.

That was exactly what had made it such a perfect place for them to take shelter in.

It was still dark out enough for the world to be bathed in a silvery light from the moon. Well obviously it was still dark; it was extremely late. Or was it early? He checked the time on his phone.

Just barely after twelve. They had until two to stay on watch. Two long hours in the cold.

“Hey Ev, over here.” Jon called him over quietly, catching his attention.

He sat perched on the edge of a porch swing that he had honestly not even noticed before. A pile of thick, old looking blankets lay next to him. He approached him, eyeing the bench-like swing curiously. It looked old and dusty, but still in relatively good shape. The cushions were surprisingly comfortable beneath him when he sat down.

He drew a blanket over their legs, immediately feeling a tiny bit warmer from both being protected from the wind, as well as being so close to Jon. Body heat and all that, he supposed. He pulled the remaining blanket over their shoulders, watching absently as the other male quickly snuggled into the warmth, clutching the blanket around him. Almost immediately he could feel a drastic change. From being bitterly cold to blissfully comfortable and warm. It was… cosy.

Now more than ever, he was grateful for the blankets Marcel and Tyler had left for them.

“Thanks.” Jon murmured, flicking his gaze to the sky.

They were quiet for a while after that. One of them gazing at the stars above and the round moon in the distance, the other keeping his eyes peeled and his ears open for any signs of intrusions.

“It’s nice, right?” Jon eventually asked, swinging the extended seat back and forth slowly with his legs.

Evan paused in his silent watch over the area, shifting his gaze from their surroundings to him. His face softened when he saw him staring up at the sky, eyes gleaming like the stars he was looking at. It made him tempted to look up and see what he was seeing. To admire the beauty of the little things like the stars that glinted like tiny fairy lights. But he couldn’t tear his eyes away from _him_, even if he wanted to. “Yeah. Yeah, it actually is.”

He didn’t want to look like a creep, so he turned his head away again, curling his fingers around the edge of the blanket and pulling it closer. The chains creaked softly as it swung with the wind.

It was… peaceful. Even if he knew he had to stay on guard-just in case, it was surprisingly calming to be out here.

“Twenty questions?”

His eyes flicked momentarily to Jonathon at his quietly cheerful suggestion. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips when he noticed how _awake_ he seemed. It seemed all traces of drowsiness had disappeared. Lucky him.

“The guessing game?”

“No, no, like… We just ask each other questions, I guess.” He scratched the back of his head a bit bashfully.

“Yeah, sure.” He shrugged, leaning back against the cushions behind him to get more comfortable. “You go first.”

“Okay.” He shifted as well, bringing his legs up onto the swing to cross them. “Hmm… What’s it like in the world of the famous Vanoss?” He asked dramatically, throwing his hands out and tone almost teasing, although there was a curious glint visible in his eyes.

“It’s… Okay, I guess.” He answered hesitantly. Not entirely surprised by his dramatics, even if he had needed to duck to avoid being hit by a hand.

“_Just_ okay? C’mon, you’ve gotta give me more than that.”

He gazed out at the long stretch of road ahead of them. It developed into darkness the further along it went, no lights to chase the shadows away on the abandoned dirt road.

There _was_ more to it than just that. Of course there was. But sometimes… sometimes he wanted _more_. “It’s lonely.” He breathed out. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Del’s expression fall ever so slightly, so he quickly backpedalled. “I mean, I live in Canada, you know? You all live far away from me. I just… sometimes miss having you guys with me in person.” He amended himself.

Maybe not being entirely truthful about what he had meant, but not quite lying either. Because it was the truth. Just…not the entire truth.

Delirious still didn’t look all too convinced by his answer though. Or happy, for that matter. “That… sucks, Ev.” He finally said, looking almost… crestfallen. “I… never really thought about that… I mean, I have Luke whenever I get lonely. You… You don’t have any of us.”

Evan felt almost guilty for making Jon upset. It was guilt, right? Yeah no, it had to be. “Hey, it’s all right though. I have other friends that live nearby, so it’s not all bad-” He paused when he noticed him gaping, a confused frown creasing at his brows. “What?” He questioned him.

“You’ve got other friends?!” He squawked theatrically.

“Oh shut up.” He couldn’t help but laugh at that, jabbing an elbow into his side lightly.

“Okay, okay.” He huffed, massaging his side exaggeratedly. Silence hung over them for a while after that. A few minutes passed until Jon finally spoke again. “Really though… I _am_ sorry. I wish things were different.”

“Yeah. Me too.” He said. He nudged his body against him lightly a moment later though. “Now come on, cheer up. We’ve still got nineteen questions left. And if I’m not wrong, it’s my turn now.”

That was how they spent their watch. Talking, often laughing, and always revelling in each other’s warmth and company. With shoulders bumping and smiles shared and eyes as bright as the stars.

Those two hours passed by much quicker than he ever thought they would.

-

The next time he opened his eyes, he was greeting by the warm glow of the sun shining shafts of light through partially open curtains. He had no idea what time it was, but his body felt stiff and his eyes heavy in an unpleasant way. He was practically begging himself to just close his eyes and go back to sleep again. But he couldn’t.

Not with the space next to him cold and empty, and Jonathon nowhere in sight.

He rolled over with a bone-weary sigh, pushing himself to gradually rouse out of his half-asleep, half-awake state.

He slowly allowed himself to wake up instead of abruptly, seeing as it didn’t seem like anything was wrong. He could hear the faint sounds of birds chirping outside and even fainter voices coming from beyond the closed door of the room.

After what felt like ages, he managed to get himself to actually get up and not keep lazing around. Not bothering to check his appearance or worry about how bad his hair might look, he left the room, bare feet padding against the floor noiselessly and shirt creased from being slept in. He headed towards the sound of the voices, only stopping at the door to the kitchen to cast his eyes around quickly and take in the scene before him.

Jon sat perched on one of the counters, legs swinging and mask off, completely lost in conversation with Brock. Said friend was busy turning a pancake over as he spoke, a relaxed smile on his face. Brian stood leaning against another counter, nursing a mug and just silently listening to the two of them, while Marcel stood next to him, looking much more tranquil and at ease than he had been yesterday.

Marcel was the first to notice him enter the room and he smiled slightly in greeting. “Morning.”

And suddenly there were three more sets of eyes on him. He definitely didn’t miss the way Jon visibly perked up at the sight at him, nor the knowing look that Brock gave the two of them in turn, but he decided not to linger on either of those things for too long. He was too tired to.

“Ev, hey.” Jonathon greeted him cheerfully, grinning from cheek to cheek.

“Good morning.” He traded him a smile, albeit a much smaller one. He didn’t think he could muster up a bigger one right now. He was tired and he smelled coffee.

“Sleep well?” Brock asked, turning away from the sizzling pan to look at him for a moment.

“Yeah, actually. What about you guys?”

“Like a fuckin’ baby.” Brian drawled.

“Great.” Marcel agreed, handing him a mug as he shuffled past. He accepted it blearily, rubbing his eyes with his other hand.

“That’s good.” He poured some still steaming hot coffee into the cup and reached for the sugar, before he stopped. “Hang on,” He started off a bit tentatively, giving the others a confused look. “How do we have all this shit?”

“The food?” Brock confirmed, going back to cooking again to slide off the by now ready pancake into a plate of steadily growing pancakes.

He nodded and continued making his coffee, causing Marcel to shrug. “Brian and I went shopping after his shift ended. We thought that since it was already light, they didn’t need to be as on guard anymore.” He answered for him, stealing Brian’s coffee from him while he was distracted by watching Moo. He ignored the outraged cry and the attempts to get it back to instead take a long swig from the stolen cup.

“Wait, shopping?”

“Yup. I mean, we’ve got plenty of money to spare. We were hungry, so we just took the helicopter to the closest shop we could find and bought a bunch of groceries.” Brian said, glaring at Marcel mutinously, but seeming to give up on his attempts. For now.

“Are you sure that was safe though?” A frown tugged at his expression. He couldn’t help but be concerned though, with everything that was going on. “We don’t know if that guy-” He paused, the other male’s words registering in his mind. “The helicopter? Seriously?”

“Mhm.” Marcel hummed his reply, snatching a pancake off of the pile to put on his own plate, hand already sneaking to the syrup bottle that stood next to it.

“Okay, how does everyone but me know how to fly?” He exclaimed, leaning back against a counter and bringing up his coffee to his lips. It was still hot, but not scalding and he could drink it without fear of burning his tongue.

“Maybe ‘cause you’re just lame?” Brian teased him, causing Brock to smack him on the arm with the spatula.

“Brian!” He chastised him

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” He laughed, holding his hands up in surrender.

A quiet chuckle tore itself from Evan’s mouth as he watched, his amusement sparkling in his dark eyes. He could hear Del’s infectious giggle start up from next to him as well, which only made him laugh harder.

“Now come on, dish up. You’d better start eating before everyone else wakes up. There’s going to be chaos when they do.” Brock told him, pointing to the pancakes with his spatula.

“Right, will do.” He said, flashing him a quick grin.

Not long after that, others joined them. And sooner than he realised, almost everyone was up and about again, majority of them having migrated to the living room to eat breakfast together. A loud chatter had started up, boisterous and care free and just so _nice._

He had decided to stay with Brock in the kitchen while he cooked, helping him out and keeping him company.

“You don’t have to do this; you know that right?” Evan had told him at one point as he washed the dirty bowls and utensils leftover from making the batter. But he had gotten a warm smile and a shrug in response.

“I know.” He had responded.

By the time Brock had made the last pancake and Evan had finished cleaning up, everyone was up and busy eating their fill.

“Thanks for the help, man.” Moo told him, passing by him with the last of the pancakes stacked on a plate on his way to the living room. He followed him to the door, but didn’t actually enter the room just yet.

He couldn’t help but just watch first.

Not for the first time, he thought about how… surreal this all was.

His friends all here together, laughing and joking, eating pancakes that Brock had made for them, and just… just _being_ there with each other.

In person.

Tyler and Lui were poking fun at each other as they ate, laughs as loud as the roaring engines of the cars they liked to race in. Luke kept stealing pieces of Ryan’s food every time he turned away, resulting in a smack on the shoulder and a fond smile that promised that he wasn’t mad at him every single time without fail. Brian, Nogla and Marcel spoke to each other in quiet voices that were still loud enough to be heard, happy and content and only pausing in their conversation to greet Brock when he joined them, the softest look he had ever seen appearing on Brian’s face when he sat next to him and their hands found each other’s beneath the table.

It was… It was perfect.

They might’ve been trapped in a game, forced to die over and over and over again. Hunted down and stalked by a dangerous individual.

But somehow… he was happier than he had been in a long time.

Because all of his friends were here. Right now. Sharing a meal and _for once_ not worrying about what the future might bring for them.

“It’s nice, huh?”

Evan almost started from the sudden voice coming from behind him. But he immediately recognised it and relaxed again, glancing over his shoulder to look at Jonathon. He was smiling. The look on his face could only be described as warm, as he gazed out at their friends. Likely thinking along the same lines of what he was thinking. He shifted his gaze back to the others again, leaning against the doorframe.

“Yeah.” He smiled. “It’s nice.”

He was happy.

With Jon at his side and his friends with him, against all the odds, he was happy.

-

When everyone had eaten their fill and the conversation had run dry, their good spirits had collectively gone down again. It was bound to happen, really. Disappointing, of course. But he knew it would happen eventually. And as much as he hated to admit it, they did need to discuss some things. A few things, really.

Even Del had shifted moods. It was impossible to miss it. Gone were the soft smiles and the gentle words from the guy that he had comforted last night. The genuine laughter and those brief, lingering touches. Replaced by the cold, stifling knowledge that they couldn’t afford to be anything but serious now.

“Okay, we have to discuss our plan.” Vanoss was the first to speak in a good couple of minutes. He could hear a few sighs in response to his comment, though he knew that everyone knew their ignorant bliss was bound to end at some point. But since no one protested, he knew they were leaving him to do the talking for now. “This guy, whoever he is… we have no idea whether or not he’ll be able to find us here or not. Assuming that he’s a hacker of sorts, seeing as he’s got us trapped in here, he might be able to hack the server and figure out where we are.”

“Then… We should constantly be moving while we find a way to escape?” Ohm asked, frowning visibly from beneath his blindfold. “That might be difficult.”

“Especially since we don’t even know where to start.” Lui added.

“Either that or we confront him.” Nogla shrugged, ignoring the look Lui shot him at that.

“And let him decimate us again? No thanks.”

“Well, we could be more prepared this time around.” Brock said. “Set up a trap or something.”

Wildcat nodded his agreement. “He’s right, that way maybe we can force some answers out of this guy. We might be able to get out of here if we do that.”

“That’s the best-case scenario though.” Cartoonz pointed out. “The worst-case scenario is that we all die, and we piss him off so much that he makes sure we don’t respawn again.”

They went quiet at that, nervous at the prospect of actually dying in game and never coming back again.

“He’s right… We have no idea what this guy is capable of.” Marcel sighed.

“So either we run, or we stay, is that it?” Terroriser scowled. “I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t like the sound of either of those options.”

“It’s not like we can do much else, Brian.”

He looked around at the others pointedly. “If we had a lead, then maybe we’d have more of a chance.”

“Well sure, but it’s not like we have any leads-”

“Actually…” Ohmwrecker interrupted Daithi hesitantly, ducking his head slightly in what seemed like embarrassment. “I… I might have something.”

Evan leaned his elbows on the table, eyes flickering towards Ryan curiously. “Go ahead.” He prompted him gently when he hesitated. He noticed Luke rubbing his back reassuringly, trying to hide his surprised, but not doing an all too great job at it.

“When I… killed myself…” He started off slowly, almost nervously. “Something… _weird_ happened this time around.”

“Weird?”

“Yeah… I don’t know what dying was like for you guys, but the first time I died, it was like I was… I don’t know, like-”

“Falling?” Evan suggested. “Like it’s cold and dark and you feel like you’re falling through nothing?”

Ryan nodded. “Yeah, exactly. But this time it was… different. I was somewhere new.” By now he had every single person’s utmost attention. “I was still falling, but it was white, and it looked like it was… glitching around me, I guess.”

Immediately Evan was drawn back to the moment after Ohm had shot himself. The world had crackled and glitched before his very eyes for a second or two. He’d almost forgotten about it until now. And by the looks on his friend’s faces, they had too.

“Then I saw something. Words. Like… A clue or something, I don’t know.” He exhaled slowly, shifting in his seat. “Go to the beginning to find the end.”

“Why didn’t you tell us this before?” Tyler asked, folding his arms over his chest. He didn’t sound accusing though. Just more… curious.

“I thought I had been dreaming it or something.” Ohm admitted. “But since we don’t have any other leads… I don’t know, I just thought I’d bring it up.”

“It’s a good thing you did.” Vanoss gave him a quick, reassuring smile, glad to see him relaxing slightly when he caught sight of it. Clearly not as guilty or ashamed as before. “It’s the best we’ve got right now.”

“Go to the beginning…” Del murmured thoughtfully. “Do you guys think we should go to where we spawned in for the first time?”

“Maybe… But what if it means the beginning of this whole _dying_ thing, not just entering the game?” Lui asked, glancing around the table. “Because those would be two different places.”

“How do we know that wasn’t a trick though?” Nogla pointed out. “We have no idea; it might be leading us into a trap.”

“But what else can we do?’ Brian countered. “I don’t know about you all, but I think we should go investigate this. It’s better than the other choices.”

“I agree.” Lui piped in, followed by a vocal agreement from Brock.

“I think we should stay and leave a trap for the hacker.” Tyler said. Cartoonz and Nogla both agreed with him.

“So… what should we do? Majority rules, or should we split up?” Ryan asked.

“Don’t you guys know the horror movie rule?” Del interjected. “_Never_ split up. It’s a bad idea.”

“He’s right, actually.” Luke said.

“Let’s take a vote then.” Vanoss looked around slowly and, seeing no one rejecting the idea, continued. “All in favour of staying to confront the hacker, raise your hand.” Tyler, Luke, Daithi and Marcel all put their hands up. “And all in favour of going back to the city to investigate, raise your hand.” Lui, Brock, Brian, Del, Ryan and himself all lifted their hands. Six to four. “So it’s decided. We’re going back.”

Tyler sighed, but didn’t protest. “All right. We should probably leave now then.”

“The sooner the better.” Evan agreed, standing up from his seat at the head of the table. “Get everything you’ve left in your rooms and meet up at the helicopter. We should leave before he finds this place.”

“Okay, but who’s gonna fly us there?” Brian asked as he followed suit and stood up.

“Me, duh.” Tyler rolled his eyes at the question.

“Now hang on, I feel like I should fly the helicopter.” The Irishman argued.

“I’ve got more experience.”

“But I know how to.”

“If he can fly the helicopter, then why can’t I?” Marcel interrupted.

“What-” Tyler spluttered, looking between the two of them. “He’s _not_ gonna fly it. _I_ am.”

“Why should you be the one to though?” Brian asked, a cheeky smile on his face.

“Because I have more experience!”

“Well… I’ve had quite a few deaths. Maybe _I_ should.” Brock said, though he was very clearly teasing him at this point. Tyler didn’t seem to catch onto that particular detail though.

“What? No! You don’t even _know_ how to fly it.”

“I mean, I could learn.” Moo shrugged.

“No, no way. I’ve got three deaths. I should be the pilot.” Tyler defended adamantly.

“I’ve got three deaths too.” Daithi added in. “Maybe I should.”

“Oh come on guys. I’ve got what, five deaths now? If we’re going by that then I should definitely fly us.” Evan eventually spoke up, his amusement clear in his voice.

“That’s exactly why you _shouldn’t_, Evan.” Ryan chided him jokingly.

“He’s right, we can’t base this off of who’s _died_ the most.” Brian said. “We should base it off of who’s died the least. And I’ve only died twice, so I should.”

“But I’ve only died once.” Jon finally joined in on the conversation.

“I’m gonna fly and that’s final!” Tyler interrupted them all, face flushed. He stormed past them, muttering swear words and rather unflattering things about them all as he passed by.

They all looked at each other, before erupting into raucous laughter at his response.

“Oh god, that was the most frustrated I’ve seen him get in a while.” Brian wheezed, wiping the tears from his eyes.

“Definitely worth it.” Marcel chuckled.

They headed out after Wildcat not long after that, still breathless from their laughter and smiles on their faces. Until they saw him staring down the dirt road next to the helicopter, wearing a solemn expression. All traces of his previous annoyance gone.

“Guys, we’ve got trouble.” Was all he said.

Evan could practically feel everyone go serious at that and he turned his gaze to follow Tyler’s. What he saw made his stomach sank. The blue and red flashing lights of police cars could be seen in the distance, steadily growing closer and closer.

“Wha-how?” He murmured to himself, a frown creasing at his brows. He turned to the others as a thought struck him. “Did anyone get stars?”

He raked his eyes over the others, taking in their negative head shakes and quiet affirmations of ‘no’. Until he saw Cartoonz and Ohm trading worried looks.

Ryan swallowed thickly. “I’ve got five stars.”

“Me too.” Luke sighed heavily, already materialising a gun in his hand.

“How?” Lui asked, flabbergasted. “You guys were here with us the whole time!”

“It’s the hacker.” Evan answered him grimly. “He must’ve given them the stars when the police were nearby.”

“Evan, what do we do?”

He went quiet for a bit after that, thinking. “We… We can’t fight back.” He finally said, eliciting surprised and confused looks from the others.

“Wait, what? Why not?” Marcel demanded.

“Because then we’ll get stars too and it’ll be a lot more trouble for us all.”

By now the cop cars were all too close and Ryan and Cartoonz both looked extremely worried. Close enough that he could just barely make out the numbers on the front car’s license plate.

“But… What about us?”

Evan clenched his jaw, deciding to do something that was definitely not the best idea in the world, but would be best for the group as a whole. “Nobody lifts a finger to help them. We have to keep our wanted levels down, so we can’t help them.” As he had expected, he was met with protest.

“Evan, think about this-”

“But we can help!”

“It’s too dangerous for them.”

“No.” He snapped, giving each of them a stern look in turns. “Take cover and wait it out. What happens will happen.”

They hesitated, but when the first gunshot cracked through the air, so did their resolve. They quickly ducked for cover in different places one by one, until it was only Ryan, Luke, Brock and Evan left standing in the middle of the road.

Ryan and Luke both looked resigned, but not particularly mad at him. He counted that as a blessing, at least.

“I’m sorry, guys.” He told them quietly.

“It’s fine. It’s not like we have much of a choice. Besides, what’s one more death, right?” Luke tried to give a confident smile, but it looked more like a grimace. He was grateful for it anyway.

Ryan was the first one to actually use his gun, and sent a spray of fire back at the policemen, causing the cars to swerve to a stop not far from them. Luke let loose a torrent of gunfire blindly to keep them occupied, sticking close by his boyfriend with a grim look on his face.

“Brock, go.” He told the other male, sending him a look.

“No. I’m not leaving them alone.” He argued stubbornly, a fiercely determined look on his face. “It’s about time I do something brave, right?”

He scowled at him. “Something brave, sure. Not stupid.”

“They’re my friends too, Evan. And besides, it’s not like you’re hiding with the others either.”

“Fucking-fine.” It was a suicide mission to stay out here with them and they both knew it. But he was clearly adamant about this, and he knew it would be too difficult to argue with him here. “Just be careful.”

“Will do.” Then he was blasting away with the minigun that had appeared in his hands barely seconds before, slowly walking towards the barricade of police cars while sending torrents of gunfire at them.

Vanoss lifted his own gun and started mowing down any policeman he saw. As long as most of the others were safe, he didn’t mind getting wanted stars to help Luke and Ryan. He was just miffed that Brock had chosen to as well.

He could see the masked gamer and Cartoonz side by side, shooting in turns and covering each other whenever one needed to reload. But he couldn’t hear anything that came out of their mouths. Not with the almost deafening sound of gunfire in his ears. He couldn’t see any of the others, but that was just fine with him. It meant that they were likely safe.

The faint smell of gunpower became all too potent in his nose, so much so that he could practically taste it. He just barely caught the sound of someone screaming his name.

In the corner of his eye was Delirious, crouching behind some cover and looking stricken about something on the other side of him. Something he couldn’t quite see.

Jon lifted his newly materialised gun, aiming it towards him, before he pulled the trigger once. He didn’t hear the individual gunshot in the chaos, but one thing he _did_ hear was a loud thud close by. He looked towards the sound momentarily and found a dead police officer on the ground, all too close to him for comfort. He turned back to Jon, only for time to go still around him.

Jonathon was smiling, relieved, when the bullet hit the side of his head.

Blood showered outwards in an arc of red from the wound, glittering like grotesque diamonds in the light.

His body lurched to the side gracelessly and he fell to the floor.

Jonathon was still smiling when he hit the floor, though his eyes were empty and lifeless. His gun lay abandoned on the ground.

_‘H20_Delirious died.’_

No…

He could feel something inside of him shatter at the sight of his fallen friend and for a moment he stood in place, stunned and distraught.

It was only when he felt something burningly painful hit his arm that he was brought back into reality and the world sped up around him again.

“Shit.” He swore, forcing himself to look away from the now vanishing body of his friend and down to his arm. A fresh bullet wound decorated his upper arm, blood already pooling out from it in worrying amounts. He did his best to ignore the sharp pain and instead focus on the fight again. He tore his eyes away from it, vowing to take care of it when this was all done-if he even made it out of this alive, which was doubtful, and looked up.

Just in time to witness a miraculous explosion that rocked the world and threw him backwards.

He hit the ground hard enough to stun him and his body to burst into pain again.

_What the fuck just happened?_

White hot light licked at his closed eyelids and the pain in his head that had been oh so prevalent the previous day after his first death was back again in full swing. There was a ringing in his ears, and he had no idea whether it was from hitting his head on the ground again, or if it was from the sound of the explosion. Maybe a bit of both.

He pried his eyes open and rolled over onto his side, eyes blurry for a few moments as he tried to adjust.

_‘_CaRtOoNz killed Ohmwrecker.’_

_‘_CaRtOoNz died.’_

Well shit.

He sat up, stomach dropping when he saw Brock lying motionless on the ground, a huge shard of metal jutting out from his neck and blood pouring out of the wound. Brian sat cradling his head in his lap, babbling to him hysterically. He couldn’t hear what he was saying over the high-pitched whining in his ears or the loud gunfire that seemed to be aimed mainly at him now. Glistening tears threatened to overflow from Brian’s eues whenever Moo choked or spluttered, body spasming violently each time. His sunglasses had been thrown off in the explosion and blood leaked out from his mouth, pooling around his head and soaking into Brian’s pants.

He couldn’t bare to keep watching anymore so instead focused on getting himself back up onto his feet again. The world in front of him swayed for a moment and dark spots swam in his eyes, but he managed to get back up again.

_‘Moo_Snuckel died.’_

Well this went about as well as he had expected. The heat was definitely on him now.

He grabbed Lui as he was running past, clearly in the midst of trying to get to Brian and get him out of the way, and ducked down behind the burning carcass of a decimated police car, dragging him down with him. “Get the others and stay inside until I’m back, okay?” He told him viciously. Judging by the shell-shocked look on his face, he must’ve both looked a mess and sounded it.

“Wh-Where are you going?”

“I’m the only one with stars left. I’m gonna lure them away before anyone else raises their wanted levels. Now go.” He let go of his jacket and allowed him to run again, materialising his shotgun in his hands.

He hesitated for a moment, steeling his nerves.

Come on, he’s come this far. There’s no turning back from here.

He dashed out from behind his cover and shot down the nearest officer. The gun’s recoil made him grit his teeth, having forgotten about how hard the kickback was. But despite the pain ebbing through his arm, he steadily made his way towards the nearest car.

It seemed luck was on his side, because within minutes he was already soaring down the road, hands bloody, the screech of sirens in his ears, and blue and red lights flashing from behind him.

God this was risky, he knew it was.

But he also knew that he wouldn’t be able to make it out of this alive, so why not do some risky things?

He glanced into the rear-view mirror, breath catching in his throat when he realised just how many cops he’d managed to get on his tail. There had to be at least a dozen cars chasing after him, and who knows how many helicopters hovering above. His stars flashed in front of his eyes almost mockingly.

Five.

He’d gotten five stars already.

The car bumped and lurched treacherously on the dirt road, especially with the breakneck speed he was going at. He could practically hear the engine spluttering its protest, but he couldn’t slow down for even a moment to give it a break.

He leaned low over the wheel when a crackle of gunfire erupted and the car’s side mirror exploded in a shower of glass and bullets. He had no idea where he was going, he just knew he had to get far enough to protect the others before they got to him. He swerved onto the next road, tires shrieking against the dirt, and weaved around the narrow lane.

Up above somewhere he could hear the whir of helicopter blades, but he couldn’t pause to check and see where they were. He was way too focused on navigating through the bumpy road and _not dying._

Another round of gunfire and the car veered out of control violently; one of the tires blown.

“Shit!” He swore, trying his best to wrangle the wheel under control.

It was no use.

The car rocketed off of a ridge and he was airborne for a few weightless, almost exhilarating seconds.

But then he was falling again, headed straight down the ravine that he had no idea had even been there.

A scream ripped itself from his throat as he and the car plunged down.

The last thing he saw was the rushing water of a huge lake coming up to meet him far too quickly.

-

Evan came to again with a low, pained groan. Something liquid trickled down his face, sticky and warm. His legs, however, were almost freezing cold for some reason. His head pounded unpleasantly, and his arm still stung, but that seemed just about the worst of it all.

The sound of his pursuers had faded away entirely, replaced with the soft, soothing sound of water flowing around.

Had he… lost them?

Well, he could hope.

He peeled his eyes open, before quickly squeezing them shut again instinctively when blood dripped over his eyes. He sluggishly wiped his forehead and eyes with an arm, likely staining his face even more with the liquid, but at least he wasn’t blinded anymore.

He blinked a few times, everything coming into view slowly. Blood was splattered across the steering wheel from where he had obviously hit his head, but nothing else really looked out of the ordinary. Not with his vision still a bit blurry, at least. He couldn’t even make out his surroundings properly just yet. It was all a vague blur of blue beyond the windshield.

Noticing the enveloping coldness spreading further up and towards his waist now, he finally looked down, only for his heart to sink into his stomach.

It was water.

There was water rising inside of the car at a worryingly fast pace.

He snapped his head up again, eyes darting around. His mouth went dry at what he found.

His eyesight hadn’t been blurry.

The whole car was just underwater.

“No, no, no, no, no.” He rambled, lunging for the door handle. “No, no, please, no.” He yanked on it desperately, but the door didn’t budge even slightly. “Oh god, no. Not this.” He tried again and again, but it didn’t open even slightly.

He crawled over into the passenger seat clumsily in his panic, taking far too long to squeeze across the seats, and tried the other door. It didn’t open either.

The water was nearly up to his chest now.

“No, come on.” He breathed, resorting to pounding on the window with a hand in an attempt to break the glass.

He immediately fell back with a loud yelp when a spike of excruciating pain flared up in his arm, hand automatically going to clutch at his bullet wound. “Shit, shit, shit.” He swore viciously, hands going clammy from the pain.

Trying to force his pain down now that he didn’t have adrenaline to help him get through it, he decided to use his left hand to try and break the window instead.

To his steadily growing despair, he only managed to make his knuckles hurt though, and when he used his elbow instead, hit his funny bone hard enough to make his arm go numb and send unpleasant tingles up and down it.

The water drifted to his chest.

He could _see_ the water as it rose now. It was bitterly cold and made his arm sting whenever he lowered his arm far enough for it to dip into it.

He gulped, terror making his mind blur in and out of focus and his heart thud in his chest loudly. He stood up as much as he could in the car, hands automatically reaching up to press against the roof. “No, please.” He whimpered to no one in particular.

The bizarre thought to call Jonathon struck him suddenly, if only to hear the comforting sound of his voice before he died. But he knew that was a dumb idea. Not with the water rising as quickly as it was.

While he’d never really minded water-he would even go so far as to say he actually enjoyed swimming…

He _did_ have a fear of drowning.

And right now, he could barely get a coherent thought out in his panic.

The water rose past his shoulders.

Evan wasn’t a very religious guy. Most people who knew him knew that.

But that didn’t stop him from praying to every deity he knew for help.

_Not like this._

_Please, not like this._

He turned his head to the side, pressing his cheek against the roof.

He could feel the water lapping against his neck and the side of his face.

His breath came in quick, terrified puffs, eyes glued to the always rising water.

He could feel panicked tears brimming in his eyes, stinging and achingly hot compared to the freezing water.

Of all the ways he could die in this game, this was not one he had thought would actually happen. But here he was, trapped in a car at the bottom of a lake with no way out that he could think of.

Why did it have to be drowning?

He sucked in the deepest breath he could a moment before the water rose up to the roof.

He didn’t know how long he remained there. It could’ve been a minute. It could’ve been an hour. There was no difference to him. He wasn’t aware of time. He was only aware of the agony that came with holding his breath.

Burning.

Burning.

_Burning_.

_Everything was burning._

A dark veil settled over his already hazy, unseeing eyes.

Faces flashed across his vision.

Tyler and Brian and Marcel and Ryan.

All of his friends.

Smiling, laughing.

Happy.

Through a watery cloud he could see them all sitting at the breakfast table, spirits high and pancakes hot. Laughs caught in their throats, grins on their faces. Frozen in a picture of bliss. A moment he didn’t want to end.

When he turned his head to the side, there was Jonathon, smiling at him. Warm and welcoming and gentle. Not the mask, just him. His face swam in and out of focus, but the smile remained in place. He looked… Sad. Sad but reassuring in that kind, soft way of his.

_‘We’ll be all right.’_

But…

_‘You can let go, Evan.’_

_ I can’t-_

_‘It’s all right.’_

He wanted to.

_‘You can do it.’_

He wanted to so, so badly.

_‘Let go.’_

He let go and inhaled.

Water water _water_

There was water everywhere.

In his nose in his lungs in his head.

He couldn’t breathe.

_He couldn’t breathe._

He was vaguely aware of fighting back, thrashing around as much as he could against the invisible force suffocating him.

_Everything burned._

But then he stopped.

Silence.

Pain.

Peacefulness?

_“Yeah, okay. Let’s do it.”_

Was that… his voice?

_“I told you to look after him!”_

Luke?

_“Go to the beginning to find the end.”_

But what does that even mean?

_“Who wants to see a magic trick, kids?”_

What…?

_“It’s nice to finally meet you, Evan Fong.”_

Who are you?

_“…promise?”_

Jon…

_“I promise.”_

Everything went black.


End file.
